With the highly anticipated Creed III finally hitting the big screens, fans were wondering about the absence of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. And it appears that the actor, who previously starred in every single project of the Rocky franchise in the last 47 years, had multiple reasons to back his way out from Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut.
And even though his absence was a culmination of the movie’s new direction and his long-time feud with the producer Irwin Winkler, it seems that the actor is still open to the idea of returning to his beloved franchise under one condition.
Why Sylvester Stallone is not in Creed 3?
Even though fans were hailing the new direction of the movie, Sylvester Stallone wasn’t quite relished by the dark approach that the creators were forwarding with the threequel. And his distaste for the film’s new direction inched him toward the idea of leaving the franchise. But apart from the creative differences with the creators, another major factor that inclined him to this decision was his long-time feud with the movie’s producer Irwin Winkler.
While speaking with Jessica Shaw on SiriusXM, Stallone went on to express his reason for leaving the franchise over his beef with Winkler, while stressing that it was not about the money but he just wanted to leave his legacy for his children. He said,
“I don’t care about the money, I wanted to leave it to my children, yeah you know what I mean, I wrote it. I thought it would be nice to say, ‘Here’s the gesture darling here. Beautiful children, beautiful wife. When I’m long gone, this is you. This is what I made for you.’.”
Sylvester Stallone is open to the idea of returning under one condition
Sylvester Stallone has always been pretty vocal about his repugnance with Winkler’s ethics and considering that Winkler had the rights to the franchise. Stallone had little to no say in the movie’s creative vision. And with the tension between them piling up over the years, the change in the movie’s direction was the last straw for him.
But even though the actor may not see eye to eye with Michael B. Jordan’s take on the Creed threequel, the Rocky Balboa star is still open to returning in the fourth film only if Winkler is not involved with the project. He stated,
“No and not not that like I could be joining a nice guy the studio is wonderful but it’s just the, it’s been such a real rough emotional ride that’s all yeah. I’ll do Creed 4 with him as long as the other fellow is not involved right.”
But considering that Michael B. Jordan is adamant about expanding the Creed universe and bringing other characters into the spotlight, it might be a while (if ever) before we see Stallone in the role of Rocky Balboa.
Creed 3 is currently playing in theatres.
Source: SiriusXM
