Fans of Rocky and its subsequent sequels may have been brokenhearted to learn that Sylvester Stallone was beefing with Rocky producers after rumors of a potential Drago spinoff (starring Dolph Lundgren) leaked on the internet. According to Stallone, he was never told of the movie and doesn’t want his fans to be “exploited.”
In a now-deleted Instagram post, Stallone chronicled his frustrations with Lundgren for moving forward with the project: “By the way, I have nothing but respect for Dolph but I wish HE had told me what was going on behind my back. Keep your REAL friends close.”
Lundgren has now made his own post clearing the air and explaining that he was unaware that his longtime friend wouldn’t be involved in the installment. “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. 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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Stallone has been open about his desire to have more control over the rights to the Rocky franchise, which belongs to producer Irwin Winkler. Last month, the actor expressed his concern with Winkler in another now-deleted Instagram post demanding the rights to the massive franchise, which will get another installment with Creed III, which was just pushed to March 2023. This will be the first Rocky movie not to feature the man himself, though Stallone does serve as a producer.