It wasn’t too long ago that ‘Rocky’ star and creator Sylvester Stallone let us all know, in a tearful ‘all good things must come to an end’ type obituary, how his most celebrated character had fought his last fight, that he had hung up his gloves. The announcement seemed timely. After all, we had seen (and thoroughly enjoyed and been pumped up by) no less than six ‘Rocky’ movies, with two successful spin-offs thrown in for good measure.
The Philly brawler who had somehow dodged permanently debilitating brain damage (“I don’t see any,” Rocky said way back in 1976 in answer to whether or not he had picked some up, this after having gone 15 brutal rounds with heavyweight champ Apollo Creed; his nervous system taking shellacking upon shellacking in the years and fights that followed) had done all he could, surely. And so too had Sly done all he could with the character he so loved playing.
But no, there are more ‘Rocky’ adventures in the pipeline. In a recent interview with Variety, Stallone, now aged 72 but looking way younger, said that he and Irvin Winkler (producer of the first iconic film) are excited about making another instalment in the ‘Rocky’ saga – “we’re very high in it,” Winkler said.
Apparently, the story would go something like this: Rocky meets a young street fighter who is living, illegally, in the U.S and needs help. Balboa, ever the good guy, gives this young warrior assistance and “unbelievable adventures begin,” as quoted by Sly himself, who added that the immigration issues that are very much ongoing in America today would make the plot of the would-be film “very, very timely.”
But do we need to see another ‘Rocky’ film?
Sure, all six films (and the two spin-offs) have been either great, very good or good (barring the abomination that was ‘Rocky V’) and we all love the character as much as Stallone does. But is there possibly any further mileage – or punch resistance – in the tale of the “ham and egger?”
There could be yet more ‘Rocky’ stuff to enjoy, though – aside from the possible new flick. Stallone says a prequel to the original film is being looked at, a T.V series, to go out on a streaming platform.
Hey, more power to “The Italian Stallion,” I guess. Many millions of fans (this one included) would be curious to watch whatever else there is to come from this decades-old tale, as well as to tune in to see what we don’t yet know about the years that preceded Rocky’s “chance of a lifetime.”
You can’t keep an old slugger down.