Most people in their 70s have been taking a more cautious approach to life during the Coronavirus pandemic, but it would be fair to say that Sylvester Stallone is unlike most folks of his age. As well as recording a voice role as King Shark for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, the veteran star has also finished shooting gritty superhero thriller Samaritan and started developing a Rocky prequel series.
If that wasn’t enough, he’s been spending his downtime assembling a Director’s Cut of Rocky IV, and Sly has now confirmed that his ideal version of the 1985 classic is in the can. From a technical or critical perspective it isn’t the best entry in the franchise by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s definitely the most purely entertaining by far, and a loving ode to the decade’s inherent excess and the cheesiness of almost every imaginable sports movie cliche.
There’s no word when or where we can expect to see the Rocky IV Director’s Cut, but it may be released onto HBO Max as well as home video given that the entire series was recently added to the streaming service’s library. The updates comes hot on the heels of Stallone revealing the surprising news that he’s not going to be a part of Creed III, but at least fans will get to see something fresh from the Italian Stallion in the relatively near future.
How much it alters Rocky IV is up for debate, though we know that Pauly’s robot butler SICO isn’t going to feature, which is a hammer blow to fans of the comic relief home appliance, but a re-edited and remastered cut of the epic battle between Rocky and Ivan Drago is an exciting prospect nonetheless.