With no ownership rights to the franchise, Sylvester Stallone is right to be annoyed about Rocky’s Drago spin-off and his lack of involvement in the project. It was recently announced in an online exclusive that MGM is developing a Drago spin-off movie starring Dolph Lundgren, reprising his role as Russian boxer Ivan Drago from 1985’s Rocky IV (via The Wrap). Drago’s son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), is also expected to appear following his Creed II debut, where Drago returned as his trainer.
The titular Rocky franchise was created by and stars Sylvester Stallone as boxer Rocky Balboa. Stallone, who wrote the original Rocky screenplay, received Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay nominations at the 1977 Academy Awards, in addition to taking home Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Editing. Rocky’s success resulted in five sequels, three Creed spin-offs, and worldwide sales of $1.7 billion. Yet despite his franchise’s huge success, Stallone shared he has “zero ownership of ‘Rocky’” and accused Rocky producer Irwin Winkler of withholding ownership rights to the franchise (via Variety). This conflict resulted in Stallone pulling out of the third Creed movie on his own terms, though he has said he would return to the franchise.
Now, the Winkler family has decided to expand the franchise with a Drago spin-off, excluding Stallone. Adding insult to injury, Stallone learned that the Drago project was happening from The Wrap’s exclusive. He took to Instagram in a now-deleted post, venting that Winkler is “once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me” (via Instagram). “I APOLOGIZE to the FANS I never wanted ROCKY to be exploited FOR THIS GREED,” he continued, ending on a positive note with “I have nothing but respect for my true friend, Dolph Lundgren.” After the ongoing controversy regarding Rocky’s ownership rights and Stallone being essentially cut from the franchise’s expansion, the actor has every right to be annoyed about Rocky’s Drago spin-off.
Why Rocky's Drago Spinoff Needs Sylvester Stallone's Involvement
Amazon recently acquired MGM, which has released all of the Rocky movies and likely wants to continue growing the franchise. Expanding seems like a stretch without Stallone, however, as he is the heart and soul of Rocky. He has been heavily involved in every Rocky project to date, creating, writing, acting, and directing much of the franchise. Not only would the Drago movie benefit from Stallone’s expertise and love of the franchise, but it would also benefit from an appearance by Rocky. This would make the movie more appealing to long-time supporters and would add depth to the film, given Balboa and Drago’s history. Additionally, if he is excluded, this would be another Rocky project for which Stallone would not be appropriately compensated, as he does not receive royalties from the franchise. While Stallone willingly chose to move on from Creed, it seems strange to exclude him from a Rocky project considering their continued success is likely due to his meticulous contributions.
Even Lundgren, whose character infamously threatened to “break” Balboa, seems hesitant to proceed without Stallone’s involvement, as he originally believed “Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor” (via Instagram). The Drago movie hasn’t begun production, but the Rocky franchise will soon continue with Creed III’s theatrical release on March 3rd, 2023. This comes after a delay, likely because Amazon and MGM hope to benefit from cast member Jonathan Major’s upcoming role in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.