Dolph Lundgren Responds After Sylvester Stallone Slams Him Over 'Rocky' Spinoff: We're 'in Touch'

Dolph Lundgren is clearing the air between himself and longtime friend Sylvester Stallone over a potential Rocky spin-off project.

Sylvester Stallone, who has portrayed Rocky Balboa throughout the movie franchise, has recently been outspoken about regaining the rights to the character and story he created with the 1976 original.

When there were reports last week of a spin-off movie in the works about Lundgren's character Russian boxer Ivan Drago (who was introduced in 1985's Rocky IV) and his son Viktor Drago (who appeared in 2018's Creed 2), Stallone, 76, slammed the news as "another heartbreaker." He said the producers were "picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me…"

On Sunday, Lundgren, 64, addressed Stallone's upset comments, saying he thought Stallone had been informed ahead of time.

"Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff. There's no approved script, no deals in place, no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor," he wrote on Instagram. "There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr Balboa - just so all the fans can relax… There ya go."

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In his post bashing the Drago project, Stallone directly called out Lundgren, writing, "By the way, I once had nothing but respect for Dolph but he NEVER told me about what was going on behind my back with the character I created for him!!! REAL FRIENDS Are more precious than gold."

Stallone has previously fought for his rights of the franchise, revealing to Variety back in 2019 that he has "zero ownership" of it. He noted that he was "very angry" and "furious" he wouldn't be able to leave any equity stake to his children, but he also regretted not pushing hard enough when negotiating the deal for the original movie. "You don't want to ruffle the feathers of the golden goose," Stallone said at the time.

Last month, the actor called out Irvin Winkler, 91, who has produced every movie in the Rocky franchise, in a since-deleted post that featured the producer's head on a snake's body. "I really would like have at least a little WHAT's LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN," Stallone wrote.

Stallone earned Oscar nominations for his debut in 1976's Rocky, for both Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. The movie also won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing.