Posted in: MGM, Movies | Tagged: creed, Drago, mgm, rocky, Rocky IV, sylvester stallone

Rocky Star Sylvester Stallone Slams MGM's Drago Spinoff Announcement

Published Sun, 31 Jul 2022 13:47:11 -0500

Last updated Sun, 31 Jul 2022 14:32:39 -0500

As the originator of the Rocky franchise, star and creator Sylvester Stallone didn't mince words when he found out that MGM, which owns the film rights, was planning another spinoff film in Drago and that Robert Lawton was set to write. The actor, who was nominated for three Oscars for the John G. Avildsen film, took to Instagram to vent his frustrations about the news reported on The Wrap while not citing the producer by name, which The Hollywood Reporter speculates is Irwin Winkler, who has producing credits in the entire franchise including the Creed films.

Rocky IV Star Sylvester Stallone to Release Director's Cut — Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa and Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago in Rocky IV (1985). Image courtesy of MGM

Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out…ONCE AGAIN , this PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC USELESS VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David , are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me … I APOLOGIZE to the FANS , I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites… By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him !!! REAL FRIENDS Are more precious than gold.

Drago is based on the original character Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, played by Dolph Lundgren, who became Rocky's greatest rival as he killed his best friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring. The 1985 film, written, directed, and starring Stallone, became the franchise's highest-grossing film to date, including the more recent Creed films. The Michael B. Jordan-starred film sees Stallone's character become the mentor and manager of Apollo's son, Adonis (Jordan). The success of the 2015 film with Stallone taking a creative backseat led to the 2018 sequel that also marked the return of Lundgren's Ivan, who's taken a similar path, but managing his son, Viktor's (Florian Munteanu) boxing career. Stallone is not involved with the upcoming Creed III.