It's all kicking off in the Rocky franchise, and we're not talking about what's happening in the ring! Sylvester Stallone is going to war with producer Irwin Winkler, and is determined to regain the rights to the character he created.
That obviously means Stallone is unlikely to appear in the upcoming Creed III directed by Michael B. Jordan. The actor announced his retirement from the franchise in 2018, and things have since become increasingly heated between Stallone and Winkler. The latest example of that comes in a now-deleted Instagram post in which he tears into the planned Drago spinoff.
Word of that first surfaced last week, with it said that MGM has tapped Robert Lawton to pen the screenplay. Dolph Lundgren's character would return, though the focus would be on his son Viktor (played by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Florian Munteanu).
Describing Winkler as "pathetic" and calling his children, Charles and David, "moronic useless vulture[s]," the actor would add, "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."
For what it's worth, Lundgren has now replied with an Instagram post of his own setting the record straight. What this means for Drago is hard to say, but MGM has also just delayed Creed III. That was supposed to come out in November, but has now shifted to March 3, 2023. No specific reason has been given, though the prevailing theory is producer Ryan Coogler likely didn't want the movie to clash with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Check out Lundgren's response to Stallone below and stay tuned for updates!
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