Sylvester Stallone pumped for potential 'Rocky' prequel, shares handwritten treatment
Sly gets what Sly wants.
When it comes to the Rocky franchise, the reason Sylvester Stallone gets what he wants is because he takes matters directly into his own hands from scratch. The 74-year-old actor is still passionate about Rocky Balboa, as he posted to Instagram his handwritten treatment for a potential Rocky prequel "for streaming" with "ideally 10 episodes for a few seasons to really get to the heart of the characters in there (sic) younger years":
Stallone shared a follow-up 'Gram Tuesday afternoon with cleaner, typed-up notes and dialogue. "I KNOW my handwriting is very awkward," he captioned. "But so what it achieved the goal. But I decided to show a little bit more of the creative process for Rocky Prequel but this time it's a lot more legible... Tell me what you think. I'm excited. MGM is excited. Hope you are too. KeepPunching."
So, all signs point toward a green light.
Stallone first portrayed the iconic underdog boxer in 1976's Rocky, which he wrote and for which he was Oscar-nominated in the best actor in a leading role category.
The film took home three Oscars and resonated so popularly with audiences that Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1984) and Rocky V (1990) followed. Stallone stepped into directorial duties for the second, third and fourth installments before John G. Avildsen returned for the fifth. However, Stallone then directed and wrote Rocky Balboa (2006), which saw the titular character come out of retirement for a final heavyweight bout.
The franchise then pivoted in 2015 to Ryan Coogler's Creed , starring Michael B. Jordan opposite Stallone as an adjacent continuation of Rocky's storied rivalry with Apollo Creed. Adonis Johnson (Jordan) is Creed's son, and Rocky serves as his mentor.
Most recently, Creed II hit theaters in November 2018:
All of which is to say: Stallone has logged way more than 10,000 hours exploring these characters, so his prequel—should it see the light of day—at the very least deserves a fighting chance.
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