Rocky star Sylvester Stallone is extremely upset about the new Rocky and Creed spin-off, has dubbed the franchise’s owners ‘parasites’, and called out Dolph Lundgren for not telling him about plans for the movie in advance.
After hearing about Drago – the upcoming film starring Dolph Lundgren and Florian Munteanu, Stallone unleashed a damning rant via Instagram:
“Heartbreaker… Just found this out… ONCE AGAIN, IRWIN WINKLER , this PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David , are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me,” he said. “I APOLOGIZE to the FANS , I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites… By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him !!! REAL FRIENDS Are more precious than gold.”
Stallone is clearly unimpressed by the news of Creed’s upcoming spin-off – a film that will focus on the Russian father and son boxing duo, Ivan and Viktor Drago. Irwin Winkler is one of the producers of the Rocky franchise, and who has presumably been a part of getting this spin-off off the ground.
“WINKLER And FAMILY SUCK ROCKY DRY!” he added in a separate post, depicting Winkler as a vampire draining blood from Rocky Balboa. “Presumed to be the most hated , untalented , decrepited [sic], producer in Hollywood and his cowardly children have found their next meal… Drago ? Throughout history so many artists in every industry, recording, painting, writing, you name it have been destroyed by these blood suckers who have destroyed so many families, lining their pockets with other people work. #parasite producers #exploited artists victims.”
Stallone has been very vocal about his displeasure with the current state of the Rocky franchise. Only last month, he called on social media to help him regain the rights to the series he created. Stallone has already pulled out of appearing in Creed 3.
After Lundgren’s appearance in Creed 2, it’s no surprise to see him back in the franchise proper. He had also been teasing a Drago spin-off for some time, so it shouldn’t really come as that much of a surprise to Stallone… at least, if he’d been paying attention.
However, it looks as though Lundgren and Stallone may have already smoothed things over:
“Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff,” said Lundgren via Instagram. “There’s no approved script, no deals in place, no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor. There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr Balboa – just so all the fans can relax…There ya go.”
Creed 2 starred Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, with Sylvester Stallone returning as the former Heavyweight champion turned coach, Rocky Balboa.
The sequel saw Adonis takes on the son of Ivan Drago – the former Russian champion, Rocky’s nemesis, and the man who ultimately killed Adonis’ father with a knockout blow during an exhibition match in Rocky 4. Florian Munteanu starred as Viktor Drago and is expected to return in the upcoming Creed 3.
Creed 3 has already been pushed back from its November release date and is now expected to debut in March next year.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
