Stallone Making Rocky 7 After Rambo 5?

Despite some rumblings here and there, here’s a little piece of news that I didn’t see actually becoming a reality. We already know Sylvester Stallone is well underway with his awesome looking The Expendables, and that he’s already got Rambo 5 in the pipeline. But that’s not all – apparently after that, Sly is going to give his most well known character another bout in the ring with another Rocky flick.

Stallone reportedly spoke to Tele 5 in Germany recently and since then, the quotes from that interview have made their way online and spread like wild fire (don’t they always?). The quotes are being sourced everywhere from Teen Say (special thanks to /Film for picking it up from them), where Stallone reveals his desire/intention to make Rocky 7. Here’s what he had to say:

“I know I’ll probably make a fool of myself if I make another ‘Rocky’ film after turning 60…. I also know there’s gonna be a lot of criticism. Even my wife says, ‘Don’t do it. You’re embarrassing the kids’. But I told her, ‘If I don’t try I’ll be a really unhappy man…. You have to do it. Artists like me have to go through the dark over and over again.”

“When I was 21 years old and at drama school. My teacher said to me, ‘If you ever put your head out there, thousands of people will try to cut it off, but that’s exactly what you need to do as an artist.’

“I know it’s ludicrous and everyone would laugh. I would laugh about it. But I also know that I’d be successful if I can make this a film about becoming older, not about boxing but about myself.”

I’m sure there will be much debate on whether Stallone should go ahead and make another Rocky film, and therefore I know I’m not alone on being on the side of the fence that thinks he should just leave the franchise be. I thought Rocky Balboa was suppose to be Rocky’s “one more time” film and that would be it. To me, Sly ended that franchise perfectly with Balboa, tying it up in such a way that to me, the idea of making another takes a lot of the weight out of the whole thing.

With Rambo I can understand making another one, since there’s still a lot that can still be done with the character (I think if Stallone delivers more of the carnage he did in the latter half of Rambo last year, we’ll all be happy). But what else can he do with Rocky? It seems he’d just be retreading old water for no real reason other than milking the cash cow making it for the hell of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure with the passion Sly has for the character, that a Rocky 7 would be be done well (if he strives for the quality of the last one). But to be honest, I’m a bit miffed as to what the point really is in making it. But that’s just me.

What are your thoughts on this: Should Stallone make Rocky 7? Or did he tie the franchise up perfectly with Rocky Balboa and he should just leave it at that?

Rocky 7 doesn’t have any official shooting or release date set yet, but presumably if it goes ahead it’d start shooting in late 2010/early 2011.

Sources: TeenSay and /Film