Rocky saga star and creator Sylvester Stallone expects to have seen the last of Rocky Balboa in Creed, the spinoff franchise following Apollo Creed’s (Carl Weathers) boxing champion son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), but confirms he has a “couple of ideas” for more Rocky outside the ring. Last summer, Stallone said there’s a “good chance that Rocky may ride again,” revealing plans for a “very timely” new movie where the long-retired fighter nicknamed the Italian Stallion takes on a new protégé — an undocumented immigrant — winding up with him south of the border after taking the “young, angry person” into his life.
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Asked during a Q&A on Instagram if we’ve seen the last of Rocky, Stallone answered, “Well, I believe in the film Creed, that’s possible, yes. But I never say no to Rocky, because I have a couple of ideas.”
A cancer-stricken Rocky mentors Adonis ‘Donnie’ Johnson Creed, son of foe-turned-friend Apollo, in the 2015 franchise revival directed by Ryan Coogler. In its 2018 sequel, the Steven Caple. Jr-directed Creed II, Rocky steers Donnie in a fight against Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) — son of Russian powerhouse Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) — helping Donnie avenge his father who was killed in a boxing match decades earlier in Rocky IV.
On the potential new spinoff, Stallone admitted he’s “not so sure” his new Rocky movies will get made because “they don’t really involve the ring as much as they should.”
“I’m not so confident that will be exciting enough for the audience,” Stallone added. “But who knows?”
In a July 2019 interview with Variety, Stallone revealed Rocky producers “want to go tomorrow” when asked how close the new movie is to happening.
“Rocky meets a young, angry person who got stuck in this country when he comes to see his sister. He takes him into his life, and unbelievable adventures begin, and they wind up south of the border,” Stallone said of the premise. “It’s very, very timely.”
Asked if this Rocky VII would touch on real-world immigration issues, Stallone said, “Yes. Do you tell someone that you just met in the street who’s struggling and homeless to get out, or do you take him in? If you take him in, you’re in trouble.”
Jordan in a September update remarked there are “definitely” plans to do a Creed III, admitting to ET Canada he doesn’t know when the threequel might step into the ring. In his book, A Life in Movies: Stories From 50 Years in Hollywood, longtime Rocky producer Irwin Wrinkler revealed he offered Jordan the opportunity to both direct and star in Creed III.
