Irwin Winkler – Michmutters
Categories
Entertainment

Dolph Lundgren responds to Sylvester Stallone’s criticism of the potential Rocky spin-off

Dolph Lundgren has responded after Sylvester Stallone criticized him for attaching himself to the potential Rocky spin-off, Drago.

Lundgren took to Instagram to clarify details of the spin-off after being called out. He revealed there is not an “approved script” for the project, or a director, Fox News reports.

“Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spin-off,” Lundgren captioned a photo of himself and Stallone on Instagram. “There’s no approved script, no deals in place, no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor.

“There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr Balboa – just so all the fans can relax… There ya go.”

Yesterday, Stallone criticized Irwin Winkler and his sons, Charles and David, for “picking clean the bones” of the Rocky character Drago for the potential series.

“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,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I APOLOGISE to the FANS, I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites,” Stallone added, before making a jab at Lundgren.

“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 has yet to respond to Lundgren’s recent reply.

Lundgren previously spoke about a possible spin-off to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021.

“By the way, I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spin-off on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that,” Lundgren told the outlet at the time.

Stallone has also criticized Rocky franchise producer Winkler for keeping revenue generated by the spin-off films from him.

This article originally appeared in Fox News and was reproduced with permission

.

Categories
Entertainment

Sylvester Stallone slams Dolph Lundgren over upcoming ‘Drago’ spin-off

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 reprized the iconic role in two believe films, with the third to be released in 2023.

And now, the cult favorite story is set to be repurposed yet again, with TheWrap 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.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022 >

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, decrepit [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 Rockytelling 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 believe and Believe II.

.