Sylvester Stallone’s distaste for the new Creed franchise and the vague future of the Rocky cinematic universe is quite well-known among fans. The actor’s controversial refusal to star in the latest Creed film aroused speculations, responding that the creative differences made him abandon the project.
It seems that Stallone had a different concept in mind, and he saw that the direction of the Rocky franchise was heading somewhere else. Apparently, the action star has concocted his own version of an unproduced sequel which he posted in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Sylvester Stallone Reveals Original Concept For Rocky 7 Did Not Materialize Because Of “Certain Individuals”
Sylvester Stallone shared photos of handwritten notes containing ideas for Rocky 7, mainly focusing on a conversation with his late wife Adrian. In another separate post, he mentors a 27-year-old newcomer named “Chucho the Mutt.” Instead of the usual boxing championship or his personal narrative, the concept seems to be about the people around him (via Twitter):
“This was the beginning EXCERPTS of screenplay for ROCKY 7, sadly because certain individuals, it will never happen, but it’s something I want to share with the diehard fans. Always keep punching.”
Stallone’s cryptic jab at “certain individuals” points to producer Irwin Winkler, with whom the actor has a feud over the movies’ rights. He accused Winkler through his Instagram account of controlling the franchise and likened him and his family to “parasites” who leech on other people’s works to gain money:
“After Irwin controlling Rocky for over 47 years, and now Creed, I really would like have at least a little [of] what’s left of my rights back, before passing it on to only your children – I believe that would be a fair gesture from this 93-year-old gentleman?… This is a painful subject that eats at my soul, because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children.”
As it turned out, Stallone graced the news headlines for the wrong reasons when he announced he won’t be returning for Creed III due to this conflict as well as creative differences with the film’s director Michael B. Jordan.
Sylvester Stallone Is No Longer Happy With Rocky Franchise’s Direction
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sylvester Stallone cleared up the issue as to why he chose to remove himself from the third installment of the Creed franchise:
“That’s a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it. It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”
The Rocky actor expressed his disappointment at Winkler several times, as it seems that his effort at attempting to get the rights back is going to be all in vain. Stallone claimed that the deal was done without his knowledge and that the people who controlled and benefited from it were the ones who did nothing.
Rocky films are available to stream via Paramount+, Netflix, Amazon Video, and MGM+.
Sources: Twitter, Instagram, THR
