Rocky really is the ultimate underdog story. Who would have guessed that a low-budget sports drama starring an unknown actor would go on to become a cultural icon, win the Academy Award for Best Picture, inspire five sequels and an equally successful spinoff trilogy, receive a Broadway musical, and play a pivotal role within MGM’s acquisition by Amazon Studios? Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky has remained an inspirational figure for nearly five decades, even when the franchise has endured some rougher reviews. Even if we got a lot of great new stories in all that time, there are also a few projects in the Rocky universe that never made it to the screen.
How do you continue the story of Rocky? It was an interesting question, as the original classic has one of the most perfect endings in cinematic history. The Rocky franchise has certainly gone in some interesting places: Rocky has now made peace with his rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), fought both Mr. T and Hulk Hogan, turned the tide of the Cold War, raised a son, sung on a Broadway stage, and trained a new inspirational hero for the next generation with Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). The strong reviews for Creed III indicate that interest in the Rocky franchise hasn’t waned, and the formula still works after all these years.
It’s unclear where the series will go next, as Stallone himself has publicly complained about not owning the rights to the original character that he created. However, we’ve seen many potential sequels, spinoffs, and continuations developed that never made it to completion.
Rocky and Karate Kid Crossover
We had Alien vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, and Batman v Superman, so why not see two legendary sports icons face off against each other? Ralph Macchio revealed that prior to the development of The Karate Kid spinoff series Cobra Kai, he had been approached about a potential crossover film with the Italian Stallion. Macchio had sworn that he’d never reprise his most iconic role after The Karate Kid: Part III, but received many pitches about ways to continue the series with Johnny becoming a father to a younger fighter.
One pitch suggested bringing back director John G. Avildsen, director of both the original Rocky and The Karate Kid trilogy, to direct a film that would see Johnny and Rocky learning that they are descended from the same Italian family. The film would then follow both fighters’ children forming a team of some sort, but the sport was never revealed. Macchio passed on the idea, which thankfully led to the eventual development of both Cobra Kai and Creed.
Rocky Prequel Series
Although it doesn’t appear that Stallone himself will be reprising the role of Rocky, he had planned to cast a younger star in a prequel series set before the events of the original film. Stallone revealed in 2019 that he had begun working on a 10 episodes series that would see Rocky growing up in the 1960s during “the most transformative generation in modern history.” He expected the series to include pivotal historical events such as the Apollo 11 moon landing, the rise of the feminist movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, and what he called “the Vietnam disaster.” He said that “we now see this young man struggling like all young people trying to find their place.”
While the series’ development was complicated due to Stallone’s conflict with the film series producer Irwin Winkler, the Rocky franchise was identified as a key part of MGM’s intellectual property that would be expanded following the purchase by Amazon Studios. Stallone revealed in 2022 that the series was now in development once more with newfound interest from producers that had previously passed on the project.
Rocky VII
Another casualty of Stallone’s disagreements with Winkler has been his proposed idea for Rocky VII. In an emotional social media post, Stallone revealed a series of notes that he had handwritten regarding storylines, scenes, and passages of dialogue from a project that would see him return to the big screen. Rocky VII would feature Rocky mourning the death of his wife Adrien (Talia Shire) and taking an interest in training a 27-year-old protégé named Chucho the Mutt.
Stallone also revealed that he had chosen to part ways with the creative team of Creed III amicably due to disagreements about the tone of the series. "I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist,” he said. “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.”
Drago
It was first revealed in November 2021 by Dolph Lundgren that development had begun on a spinoff project about his Rocky IV character Ivan Drago, who had returned to the series in Creed II as the trainer of his son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu). The Drago film was set to be written by screenwriter Robert Lawton, who had previously pitched MGM on a biographical film about the making of the original Rocky film that they ultimately decided not to pursue. Drago intended to explore Ivan’s backstory in the Soviet Union.
Stallone had criticized Lundgren for accepting the role in the spinoff “behind his back,” even though he saved most of his criticism for Winkler. Lundgren responded by saying that "there’s no approved script, no deals in place, no director," and that he was "under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor." Lundgren stated that he intends to discuss the project with Stallone as it moves forward.
Creed IV and Spinoffs
=
In anticipation of the growing positive word-of-mouth for Creed III, Michael B. Jordan revealed that he was interested in starring and potentially directing a fourth film in the series. He also stated that he wanted to “expand the Creed-verse” with spinoff projects; while he didn’t cite any individual characters, Creed III’s Dame Anderson (Jonathan Majors) seems like an obvious candidate. Majors has been cited as a standout character by early reactions and is set to have an exciting year with Creed III, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the Sundance hit Magazine Dreams.