On the occasion of the broadcast of Rocky on Arte, we ask ourselves the following question: will the Italian Stallion return to the cinema?
Will Sylvester Stallone, 77, put on Rocky’s gloves again to get back into the ring one last time? Nothing is less sure ! Already absent from Creed 3, the actor is not currently planned in the 4th part that Michael B. Jordan is preparing for us.
Furthermore, before the release of Creed 3, Stallone had expressed his disagreement with the direction taken by the director and producers of the franchise.
“It’s a different philosophy, that ofIrwin Winkler and of Michael B.Jordan. I wish them good luck, but for my part, I am much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes to get banged up, but I don’t want them to go into that dark space. I think the public sees enough darkness already.”Sly had explained.
“I will never watch Creed 3. It’s the classic move. They cherry-pick some aspects of Rocky here and there without even asking my opinion or if I want to be part of it. It’s an unfortunate situation because I know what it could have been. They took a completely opposite direction to the one I would have taken.”Stallone also deplored.
In addition, the actor is in full conflict with the rights holders of the Rocky saga, the family of Irwin Winkler and that of Robert Chartoff. “I’m not an executive producer of the Creed films. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff’s kids are. Not mine. I’m the only one left out.”had confided Sly with bitterness, who is trying to recover the rights of his baby.
Despite these various disagreements, Michael B. Jordan does not close the door to a return of Rocky in Creed 4. “I think there’s always the possibility that Sly, that Rocky, will come back. It’s one of those amazing things about that character. His return would make sense in any story, because it all comes from the world of Rocky”he told Sports Illustrated.
To see if Sly will be interested despite the different visions on the plots and the characters, in addition to the war of rights. In any case, a 7th film with Rocky solo seems totally compromised.
Only the Creed franchise can possibly bring the Italian Stallion back to the cinema. Note that the Balboa license brought in 1.2 billion worldwide revenues in 6 films. If we add the Creed trilogy, the amount rises to almost 2 billion!
If you miss Stallone, you can find him on Paramount+ in the series Tulsa King.