Sylvester Stallone has hit out at his long-time friend and co-star Dolph Lundgren over an upcoming spin-off to Rocky.
The 76-year-old US actor created the smash-hit Rocky franchise back in the ’70s, in which he stars as Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa across six films spanning three decades. He also reprised the iconic role in two Creed films, with the third to be released in 2023.
And now, the cult favourite story is set to be repurposed yet again, with The Wrap announcing a new MGM project focusing on Lundgren’s Rocky IV character, Russian boxer Ivan Drago.
But the news hasn’t gone down well with Stallone, who launched an explosive post claiming Lundgren kept the production a secret from him, despite Stallone having created the character.
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Taking to Instagram with a lengthy statement, Stallone also hit out at original Rocky producer Irwin Winkler, 91, who won the Oscar for Best Picture for the breakout 1976 film.
“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,” Stallone wrote alongside a screenshot of the news.
“I APOLOGIZE [sic] 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 followed up the post with another furious rant, which featured a photoshopped image of Winkler wearing vampire teeth having sucked blood from Rocky’s neck.
“After IRWIN WINKLER and FAMILY SUCK ROCKY DRY!” Stallone captioned the post. “Presumed to be the most hated, untalented, decrepited [sic], producer in Hollywood and his cowardly children have found their next meal … Drago, RETURN MY RIGHTS BLOODSUCKERS!”
Rocky IV, which was released in 1985, is considered one of the most popular films in the franchise. It follows Rocky’s emotional journey to the ring to fight against Drago, who had fatally punched Rocky’s best friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) during an exhibition bout.
Stallone has previously opened up about his frustration over failing to secure rights to Rocky, telling Variety in 2019 he had “zero ownership” of the franchise.
“Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault. It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’” Stallone said.
“I was very angry. I was furious. Rocky is on TV around the world more than any other Oscar-winning film other than Godfather. You have six of them, and now you have Creed and Creed II.”
Originally published as Sylvester Stallone slams Dolph Lundgren over upcoming ‘Drago’ spin-off
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