Sylvester Stallone is to star in two new movies acquired by his production company.

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone

The 72-year-old film legend is to appear in dark superhero movie 'Samaritan', which has been written by Bragi Schut, with production due to begin in 2019, and he looks set to star in 'Hunter' after buying the film rights to author James Byron Huggins' novel back in 2009.

According to Deadline, Stallone and producer Braden Aftergood's Balboa Productions are seeking a writer for the motion picture, which will tell the story of Nathaniel Hunter, who tracks down a half-human beast created by a renegade agency.

The production company are also on the lookout for a screenwriter after acquiring the movie rights to FBI veteran Michael McGowan's memoir, 'Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent'.

Balboa was established earlier this year with plans to develop a new biopic about legendary boxer Jack Johnson, who was the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion.

Johnson was in the news in April when US President Donald Trump pardoned the sporting icon, who was arrested in 1912 due to his relationship with Lucille Cameron, which violated the Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes".

Supporters of the boxer - who was originally convicted by an all-white jury before fleeing the US - have been campaigning for him to be pardoned for years. Trump granted the request in April after holding talks with Stallone.

Balboa Productions takes its name from Stallone's boxing champion alter-ego Rocky Balboa, the titular character of the legendary 'Rocky' film franchise.