God, I love the Rocky movies. All of them. Well, not all of them as Rocky 5 can burn in Hades. But the rest, the absolute best work of Sylvester Stallone’s career. And don’t give me the Rambo crap. The first one was great; rest were unmitigated trash.
There possibly hasn’t been a movie series in our lifetime that has given us so many incredibly memorable scenes and character. Apollo Creed, Clubber Lange, Thunderlips Hogan, Ivan Drago. Who can forget Drago? Amazing bad guys, and amazing movies.
I even love the Creed series. I thought the two Creed movies, and maybe even the upcoming Creed 3 were the perfect way to put the entire legend of Rocky Balboa to bed.
So did Sly Stallone, but apparently the owner of the rights of the series has different ideas, because a buck is a buck! Let’s check with the Hollywood Reporter for the pugilistic details:
Sylvester Stallone has more to say about the Rocky franchise in light of MGM developing a film spinoff centering on Ivan Drago.
Stallone — who wrote the screenplay for 1976’s Oscar-winning Rocky, in which he starred as boxer Rocky Balboa — took to Instagram on Saturday to criticize Drago, the planned film that is being written by Robert Lawton. Although Stallone did not directly name anyone in his latest post, his mention of a “94-year-old producer” is an apparent reference to Irwin Winkler, who is 91 and has a producing credit on all the films in the Rocky franchise in addition to the subsequent Creed spinoffs.
Sylvester Stallone slams the #Drago spinoff film in development
"This pathetic producer [Irwin Winkler] and his moronic, vulture children are once again picking clean the bones of another character I created … I never wanted Rocky characters to be exploited by these parasites" pic.twitter.com/ldhMdtIUMx
— ScreenTime (@screentime) July 31, 2022
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First of all, how is any Rocky, or spinoff moving forward without the blessing of its namesake and creator? That’s like rebooting Back to the Future without asking Michael J Fox. Some things just need to end gracefully.
Sadly, when there are huge bags of cash involved, which inevitably there would be from a Drago spinoff, then tradition and honor are tossed aside. Not if Rocky has anything to say about it!
“Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out…ONCE AGAIN , PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS SELFISH USELESS CHILDREN are once again picking what is left OFF THE BONES of another wonderful character!!!” Stallone wrote about Drago. “Seriously, how do you weasels look in mirror???”
The star continued, “I am sorry to the FANS , I APOLOGIZE to the FANS I never wanted ROCKY to be exploited FOR THIS GREED .. # no shame #sad day #Parasite.”
That is a scathing rebuke from Stallone! The man may have pulled all his punches in the movie, but he is making solid contact here! Get up Rock! Get up!
Of course, Drago’s famous line was “if he dies, he dies”, a sentiment Winkler seems to be portraying toward Stallone.
Lundgren addressed Drago on Instagram by clarifying that the spinoff is in early stages and that he was “under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor.” He continued, “In touch with Mr Balboa – just so all the fans can relax…There ya go.”
This is looking like a mess. The star of the new proposed film, Dolph Lundgren, assumed Stallone would be in the picture, while Stallone assumed Lundgren was doing the film without his blessing.
The two are friends, how about picking up the phone every once in a while? Or how about this? Let me solve this dispute for you. Pay per view, Stallone versus Lundgren. Man against man. Let’s do this for real!
I know both actors are ancient, but they are both pretty fit, and a pay per view match would shatter world records. Then maybe Stallone could buy back the rights to the Rocky series. That is, unless Dolph Lundgren killed him, because you know, “if he dies, he dies”.
Either way let’s hope all parties can put the acrimony behind them, and if a Drago spinoff is made, at least we can all feel good watching it.