Sylvester Stallone Refuses To Let The Past Die, Wants Another 'Rocky' Sequel And Maybe Even A Prequel

Creed, and to a lesser extent Creed II, are the perfect cappers to the Rocky franchise. They enabled Sylvester Stallone's Italian Stallion to regain some dignity and hand his legacy over to a new generation. But because Stallone has a very hard time letting go of the past, he's decided that's not good enough. Now, the actor-writer-director is talking about making a new Rocky sequel. And as if that weren't a bad enough idea, there's also an idea for a Rocky prequel series.

Sylvester Stallone recently did a long-ranging interview with Variety in which he talked about his career and the ups and downs along the way. Rocky takes up a big part of the conversation. The actor reveals that while Rocky is the character he's most associated with, he has "zero ownership of Rocky" due to a "lack of business savvy" on his part. Still, that hasn't kept him away from playing the character again and again. And while it might seem like the days of Rocky sequels are over, Stallone wants more. And so does Irwin Winkler, the producer who has the most say in what happens in the world of Rocky. During the interview, it's revealed that Stallone is working on yet another Rocky sequel for Winkler. "We're very high on it," says Winkler, who adds that negotiations are underway for Stallone to write and star in the movie. "We're very anxious to make it."

When asked about this sequel, Stallone says: "There's a good chance that Rocky may ride again." He then goes on to divulge the plot of this sequel, which involves Rocky "befriending a young street fighter living in the U.S. illegally":

"Rocky meets a young, angry person who got stuck in this country when he comes to see his sister. He takes him into his life, and unbelievable adventures begin, and they wind up south of the border. It's very, very timely."

Look, I like most of the Rocky movies. I like Stallone. But this idea – "Rocky trains a young, angry person" – is the same exact plot of Creed. Why bother to make this at all when Creed did it already and did it exceptionally well? I know the answer of course – money. But I still can't help but think this is a bad idea.

Speaking of bad ideas, Stallone also wants to make a Rocky prequel series for TV. I suppose you could argue that a Rocky sequel might work, but what the hell would a Rocky prequel even be? We already have Rocky's origin story – the original Rocky.

Thankfully, it sounds like the prequel is less-likely to step into the ring. As Stallone says in the interview, Winkler doesn't like the prequel idea: "There was some conflict there, yes. He felt in his mind that Rocky was primarily a feature film, and he didn't see it as being translated for cable, so there was a big bone of contention."