Rocky Star Sylvester Stallone Slams Drago Spinoff
Earlier this week, it was announced that the Rocky Cinematic Universe was expanding once again. 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, Creed. Now, MGM is continuing the story with another spinoff titled Drago. In Rocky IV, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) was killed in the ring by Soviet Olympic boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) and the Dragos made their return in Creed II back in 2018 when Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) went up against Ivan's son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu). While some fans seem excited about the upcoming movie, there is one person who is not too happy about it. Stallone took to Instagram today to slam producer Irwin Winkler for "exploiting" the franchise he started back in 1976.
"Just found this out... Irwin Winkler and his insatiable incredibly untalented family exploiting & beating another wonderful character into the ground! Seriously how are these weasels looking in mirror with any pride. Truly pathetic # no shame #sad day #Parasite," Stallone shared. You can check out the post below:
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). This week, it was announced the threequel will be pushed to next year. 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. Unsurprisingly, Stallone will not be returning for Creed III.
"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."
Stay tuned for more updates about Drago. Creed III is set to be released in theatres on March 3, 2023.
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