Dolph Lundgren clarifies his involvement with the Rocky spinoff, Drago, following Sylvester Stallone’s fiery comments. In 1975, Stallone wrote the boxing drama Rocky and, after attempting to sell the script to multiple studios, sold the rights to Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff under the caveat that he got to play the lead. Nine years after the franchise starter won Best Picture and made him a superstar, writer/director/lead actor Stallone cast Lundgren to play villain Ivan Drago in 1985’s Rocky IV.
One film, a revival, and a Creed spin-off later, Stallone and Lundgren reprised their respective roles in Creed II, which saw Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) battle Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), the son of Lundgren's villain. Now, the boxing franchise continues to expand. In addition to Jordan’s directorial debut, Creed III—which will not feature Stallone's Italian Stallion—it recently leaked that MGM is developing a spinoff film centering on Ivan and Viktor Drago. Following this news, Stallone criticized the Drago spinoff and further accused producer Winkler of withholding rights and exploiting the Rocky franchise.
Lundgren has taken to Instagram to set the record straight on his involvement with a possible Drago spinoff. According to the actor, the project is merely in talks at this stage, and he was under the impression that Stallone had a hand in its development. Check out the full post below:
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This post comes after Stallone doubled down on his initial comments with another Instagram post aimed at Winkler that mentions how he (allegedly) had not received a phone call from Lundgren, who got his start in the industry after Stallone cast him in Rocky IV. The two have also worked together on the Expendables franchise and will reunite in the upcoming Expend4bles. That said, it’s entirely plausible that Lundgren thought Stallone already knew about the Drago movie before the leak. While it’s comforting to know the pair have likely reconciled their misunderstanding, it’s unfortunate Stallone is now dealing with the awful side effects of a compromise he made 47 years ago as a struggling actor.
Outside of Rocky, various franchises from the 1970s and 80s have gone to court over control of character rights. For example, the rights to Friday the 13th have reverted to screenwriter Victor Miller, and the scribes behind 1987's Predator attempted to take Disney to court. Unfortunately, the latter duo never reached a deal, with the prequel, Prey, landing on Hulu on August 5. At a time when every proven franchise expands ad nauseam, reports of a Drago spin-off shouldn't have surprised fans. What may be surprising is that Stallone has next-to-no control over the IP (his Rocky prequel series notwithstanding). On the one hand, Stallone's career wouldn't be what it is today had he not sold the rights. However, it's understandable to want one's family to inherit what someone created. Regardless, at least fans now know where Lundgren stands amid all of the drama outside the ring.
Source: Dolph Lundgren/Instagram