The 76-year-old actor said in an interview that he did not participate in the filming of the movie because the story had been given a direction with which he did not agree. "That's a regretful situation because I know what it could have been," Stallone told THR about disagreeing with the new film's tone.
While Stallone reprised his role of the former boxing champion Rocky Balboa for both Creed and 2018's Creed 2, his character is noticeably absent in the franchise's latest outing.
Creed 3's Diamond Dame Is The Franchise's New Rocky Balboa
Thanks to his underdog story, Diamond Dame has become the next Rocky. Creed 3 showed a hungry, scrappy fighter eager to prove himself by any means possible.
Russell Hornsby as Buddy Marcelle: A boxing promoter who sets up the match between Adonis and Viktor. Milo Ventimiglia as Rocky Balboa Jr.: Rocky's estranged son, who moved to Vancouver in the period between Rocky Balboa (2006) and Creed and is now a father himself. Ventimiglia reprises his role from the former film.
The Real Reason Sylvester Stallone Isn't In Creed 3
Why does Sylvester Stallone not like Creed 3?
Stallone opened up about his absence, explaining that Creed III took a different direction than he would've taken it. "It's a different philosophy... I like my heroes beat up, but I just don't want them going into that dark place. I just feel people have enough darkness."
The actor has long been galled by the fact that, as a young unknown in Hollywood, he signed a deal in which he gave up ownership of the “Rocky” franchise, which he created. (Stallone wrote the film.) Since at least 1976, Rocky's rights have been in the hands of producer Irwin Winkler.
EXCLUSIVE: Creed III producer Irwin Winkler said Saturday at Deadline's Contenders Film: Los Angeles event that Creed IV is in the works, with franchise star and Creed III director Michael B. Jordan to helm it.
Despite being the face of the Rocky franchise, Stallone chose not to appear in Creed III due to creative differences with producer Irwin Winkler as well as with Jordan, although he is still a producer on the film. According to Stallone, the film had a much darker tone that he didn't agree with.
Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) returns to Creed III after serving as the primary challenger to Adonis in the preceding film. Notably, this isn't just a one-off cameo, either. Viktor and Adonis are quickly established to have buried the bad blood between their families, even becoming friends and sparring partners.
The final sequence shows Donnie pretending to box with his daughter. This scene could be a tease that Creed 4 and the next movies in the Creed saga will be about Amara and Donnie's relationship (being a father and a trainer at the same time).
T's iconic fighter still hasn't reappeared in the series despite his huge legacy. Because of this, Clubber Lang has been a highly requested character for the Creed series, and while it hasn't happened yet, it still could. Luckily, Creed III set up the perfect Clubber Lang story for Creed IV.
The Creed saga has itself been spun off from the classic Rocky series, which was initiated by Sylvester Stallone back in 1976. Although Stallone is absent from the events of Creed III, his influence pervades the saga's signature blend of emotional melodrama and hard-knocks boxing thrills.
While the story of his first film is loosely inspired by Chuck Wepner, a boxer who fought Muhammad Ali and lost on a TKO in the 15th round, the inspiration for the name, iconography and fighting style came from boxing legend Rocco Francis "Rocky Marciano" Marchegiano, though his surname coincidentally also resembles ...
Future. On February 2, 2023, Jordan confirmed that a fourth Creed film was happening "for sure" and that spin-offs were also being considered. When asked about the future of the Creed movie franchise in an interview with ScreenRant Plus, Jordan said "But you will see the Creed-verse continue to grow and expand.
Creed IV will follow up on the events of Creed III, most likely exploring Adonis Creed's ever-growing boxing empire, as well as further delving into his relationship with his family.
Rocky declines. After returning home, Rocky and Adrian discover they are broke after Paulie was fooled into signing a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour and failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the previous six years.
Rocky 7 very nearly happened, with Sylvester Stallone recently revealing details on the canceled film - but it would have hurt the franchise. It has been revealed that Rocky 7 almost happened, but its cancelation was the best move for the Rocky franchise.
Adrian doesn't physically appear in Creed, having previously died from ovarian cancer, but photos of her are seen around Rocky's restaurant (which was named after her). When Rocky goes to the graveyard he first goes and puts her brother Paulie's favorite alcoholic drink on his gravestone next to Adrian's.
Adonis' age is hard to pin down as it was never confirmed in the first film, and when it was stated in the second film, it didn't make sense with the timeline. A quick online search of Adonis Creed's birthday reveals he was born on June 1st, 1986, which means in the year 2023, he would be turning 37.
Stallone's basic pay was $35,000, but the actor/creator had smartly negotiated himself a percentage of the film's profits. Not knowing they had a blockbuster on their hands, United Artists agreed – and Stallone eventually made over $25million from the film.
