Sylvester Stallone Reveals Treatment for Rocky Prequel Series
Even though Rocky Balboa hasn't starred in his own movie since 2006, series creator and star [...]
Even though Rocky Balboa hasn't starred in his own movie since 2006, series creator and star Sylvester Stallone has still found ways to return as the character and bring him back, having appeared in the first two Creed movies (and perhaps the upcoming third film) with Michael B. Jordan. But Stallone's work with Rocky isn't done yet, as the Oscar nominee has revealed the work he's done on a proposed prequel TV series to the hit boxing franchise. This isn't the first time that Stallone has talked about the prospect of a prequel series for his character, but it's the first we've seen of what could come to fruition.
Stallone revealed the first two pages of the proposed young Rocky Balboa TV series treatment on Instagram, writing: "This may be the strangest posting yet. I started out this morning by writing a treatment for a Rocky prequel For streaming. Ideally 10 episodes for a few seasons to really get to the heart of the Characters… Hope it happens." Check out the image below and we've done our best to transcribe it all!
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"Imagine a time machine that will simply transport us back to the origins of 'Rocky,'" Stallone's treatment begins. "A cinematic world brimming with characters that have been beloved by people around the world for nearly five decades. Climbing aboard that time machine that will take us to the most transformative generation in modern history: The Sixties....Needles to say the 60s was a dynamic time"
"Yet among all this social seismic activity we drop in on the rather plain life of 17 year old Robert 'Rocky' Balboa. When we first me rocky in 1976 he was a very lost soul - a forgotten man, a wasted life, until he was transformed into a winner. We now see this young man struggling like all young people trying to find (their place)."
This isn't the first time that Stallone has spoken about a potential Rocky TV series, revealing in an interview with Variety in 2019 that the idea was shot down by series producer Irwin Winkler, who largely controls the rights to Rocky, not Stallone.
"There was some conflict there, yes," the actor said. "He felt in his mind that 'Rocky' was primarily a feature film, and he didn't see it as being translated for cable, so there was a big bone of contention."
It would appear that perhaps that contention has evaporated, and we know that in the age of streaming there are about 100 different venues that would love to have the Young Rocky TV series.