When the film finally went into production in 1981, Stallone, who had catapulted from wannabe screenwriter and actor to mega-stardom in the 1976 hit Rocky, took on the role of Rambo. Not long after it was published, Hollywood wanted the film rights, and Morrell watched with bemusement as various directors (Richard Brooks, Stanley Kramer, and Martin Ritt, for example) and movie stars (such as Steve McQueen, Robert Blake, and Paul Newman) were attached and unattached to the project. Soon, he uses his combat-honed skills to do away with police officers, civilians, and posse members in the backwoods of Kentucky as they first pursue him and then become the pursued. After a middle-aged police officer locks Rambo up, things go badly. In it, Rambo (he has no first name in Morrell's novel), is viewed by small-town locals as a member of the counterculture because he doesn't cut his hair, doesn't take a bath, and doesn't have a job. The result was First Blood, Morrell's debut novel, which was published to mostly good reviews.
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