Creed Spinoff Drago in the Works
It's been over 45 years since Sylvester Stallone first starred in Rocky, the beloved boxing movie that spawned multiple sequels as well as the spin-off franchise, Creed. Michael B. Jordan stars in Creed and Creed II as Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed who was played by Carl Weathers in the first four Rocky movies. In Rocky IV, Apollo was killed in the ring by Soviet Olympic boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). The Dragos made their return in Creed II back in 2018 when Adonis went up against Ivan's son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu). While fans of the franchise gear up for the upcoming Creed III, it looks like another new spin-off is coming. Today, The Wrap revealed Drago is now in the works for MGM.
Screenwriter Robert Lawton is set to pen the Drago script which is expected to follow Ivan and Viktor. Lawton's spec script, Becoming Rocky, which was about the making of the original Rocky film, was one of 50 scripts that won a 2021 Nicholl Fellowship. According to the report, MGM was impressed with the spec which led to them hiring Lawton for the upcoming film.
Last year, Lundgren teased in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that a spinoff was coming. "By the way, I think there's some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that," Lundgren said.
As for Creed III, the movie will mark the directorial debut of Jordan who will be stepping in for Ryan Coogler (Creed) and Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II). In addition to Jordan, Creed III will also see the return of Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad, and feature the franchise debut of Jonathan Majors. However, one person who will not be returning for Creed III is Rocky star, Sylvester Stallone.
"I think that Sly let it be known that he wasn't coming back for this one but I think, you know, his essence and his spirit… there's always going to be a little bit of Rocky within Adonis," Jordan previously told IGN. "But this is a Creed franchise, and we really want to build this story and this world around him moving forward. So, it's always respect and always a shit-ton of love for what he's built, but we really want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created." Jordan added, "So hopefully you guys will love what I'm thinking… what we're cooking up. I think it's going to be something special."
Are you excited about Drago? Tell us in the comments!
Creed III is set to be released in theatres on November 23rd.