Dolph Lundgren recently dropped a tantalizing hint about a possible upcoming “Rocky” spinoff film focused on his iconic Ivan Drago character.
Lundgren recently gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter while promoting “Castle Falls” — an action film he directed and co-starred in that hits U.S. theaters and streaming this Friday, December 3rd. When discussing the character, Lundgren said:
“I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM. So you may get more of that.”
Cinephiles, boxing fans, and children of the 1980s will recall Ivan Drago as the in-ring antagonist of “Rocky IV,” the installment of the Rocky franchise where Sylvester Stallone singlehandedly defeated communism and brought down the Soviet Union.
That film was recently recut and re-released as “Rocky vs. Drago,” a Director’s Cut/reinterpretation of the 1985 original. Stallone added around 40 minutes of new material and removed about the same amount from the original theatrical cut, including all traces of Paulie’s robot. A 93 minute behind-the-scenes documentary focused on the making of the revised film is available on YouTube.
Lundgren also appeared as Drago in “Creed II,” a 2018 film where his character’s son, Viktor Drago, fought Adonis Creed, son of Apollo, who famously died in the ring fighting Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV.” Fans of Lundgren’s Drago will be disappointed to learn that “Creed II” originally included a fight scene between Rocky and Drago set in a hospital, but was removed from the publicly released version of the film.
With the financial success of “Creed II” and the positive critical reception for “Rocky vs. Drago,” the world may finally be ready for a standalone Ivan Drago film. Let us know in the comments whether you’d rather see a modern day Drago story, or if you’d prefer to watch a prequel story. Something along the lines of “The Many Saints of Leningrad,” perhaps?