Over the course of his career, Sylvester Stallone has amassed a substantial fortune, enabling him to reside in a mansion that he eventually sold to Adele. In addition to achieving wealth, Stallone’s track record of box office success has garnered him millions of devoted fans. He occasionally puts these fans to the test when they approach him in public.
Regrettably, Stallone was not included in Creed III, marking his absence from one of his most renowned franchises. Prior to his departure from the series, Stallone had approached Mr. T to participate in a Rocky film. However, this proposal was allegedly declined in favor of a subsequently unsuccessful reality show venture.
Why Didn’t Mr. T Return To Sylvester Stallone’s Franchise?
Since the inception of the Creed franchise in 2015, they have honored the legacies of nearly all the iconic boxers from the Rocky series. Naturally, the central character is the offspring of Apollo Creed, and both Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago have made appearances in Creed films.
Sadly, the actor who brought Tommy ‘The Machine’ Gunn to life in Rocky V met an untimely demise in 2013 at the young age of 44. Consequently, it became impossible for that character to make a return in any of the Creed films.
There’s just one more prominent character from a Rocky film who has yet to make a comeback. Given the compelling nature of Mr. T’s portrayal as Clubber Lang, it’s genuinely regrettable that he has only been featured in one movie thus far.
Interestingly, Clubber Lang nearly had a substantial role in a second film, as Mr. T was invited to return to the franchise. However, it wasn’t a Creed installment that Mr. T declined; rather, it was the highly acclaimed 2006 sequel, Rocky Balboa.
In a 2010 interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Sylvester Stallone discussed the potential return of Lang in Rocky Balboa. Based on Stallone’s remarks, it seems he had crafted a storyline for Mr. T’s character that held the promise of being truly remarkable.
Sylvester Stallone Couldn’t Meet Mr. T’s Financial Expectations
Stallone attributed the deviation from his original plan to a breakdown in negotiations with Mr. T. He humorously remarked,
“Unfortunately we couldn’t meet the actor’s financial requirements because we didn’t have enough money to buy fax paper, so I replaced him with HBO commentator Max Kellerman.”
Around the period of Rocky Balboa’s release, Mr. T conducted an interview with The Globe and Mail to promote his reality show, which was debuting at that time. According to Mr. T’s statement to The Globe and Mail, his absence from Rocky Balboa was attributed to a scheduling conflict.
Initially, it may appear that Stallone’s and Mr. T’s recollections of the events don’t align. However, in theory, there isn’t necessarily a contradiction because Stallone didn’t explicitly state that Mr. T was demanding excessive compensation. Instead, Stallone humorously suggested that the production’s budget constraints extended to the point where they couldn’t even afford to send faxes to Mr. T. Theoretically, this could be linked to Mr. T requesting alterations to their filming schedule.
All six Rocky films can be streamed on Fubo TV.
Source: The Things
