Sylvester Stallone Slams Dolph Lundgren Over ‘Drago’ Spin-Off, The Latter Reacts

Hollywood superstar Sylvester Stallone is miffed over an upcoming spin-off to 'Rocky' and has hit out at his long-time friend and co-star Dolph Lundgren.

The 76-year-old was seen playing Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa in the franchise that he created back in the ’70s. He played the character across six films spanning three decades and it went on to become a cult classic. The US star also reprised the iconic role in two 'Creed' films, with the third to be released in 2023.

Now, according to the wrap, Screenwriter Robert Lawton is set to write the 'Rocky' spinoff 'Drago' for MGM. Although plot details are being kept under wraps, 'Drago' centers on Russian fighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), who first appeared as the antagonist in 1985’s 'Rocky IV', and his son Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) who was last seen as the antagonist in 2018’s 'Creed 2'.

However, the news hasn’t gone down well with Stallone, who, in a social media post, claimed Lundgren kept the production a secret from him.

In a similar post, 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. I APOLOGIZE (sic) to the FANS, I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites,” Stallone wrote alongside a screenshot of the news.

Another part of his post reads, “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.”

On the other hand, Lundgren, 64, addressed Stallone’s outburst, saying there were currently “no deals in place” for a spin-off.

“Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff. 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,” the Swedish actor wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of the duo.