Sylvester Stallone is making fast progress with his new director’s cut of the classic sequel Rocky IV, providing a new update on the project that suggests we may even get to see it by the end of this year. Earlier this summer, Stallone had told his fans that he was working on a new cut of the movie, and just this month, he uploaded video clips of the work in progress. Now, along with an image of some awesome Rocky IV artwork, Stallone says the cut is coming along great, though a certain robot won’t be featured this time around.
“For the 35th anniversary Rocky IV Is getting a new DIRECTORS cut by me. So far it looks great. Soulful.. Thank you MGM For this opportunity to entertain,” Stallone says in the caption. The original movie was released in the United States on Nov. 27, 1985, and if MGM is looking to commemorate the occasion, that means we could see Stallone’s new director’s cut releasing around that time as well.
Additionally, Stallone also revealed that poor SICO has been axed from this updated version of Rocky IV. In the comments of his post, one fan jokingly asks if the movie will expand upon the relationship between Paulie and the bizarre robot, and Stallone made it clear that SICO won’t be coming back.
“The Robot is going to the junkyard forever. No more robot,” Sly said in response. After another fan pleaded with the actor not to cut the robot, Stallone bluntly added: “I don’t like the robot anymore.”
Although it looks like SICO has gotten the boot, there will be other clips making it into the new cut that were not shown in the theatrical release of Rocky IV. This includes footage previously shown by Stallone on Instagram, revealing an alternate version of the press conference scene when Rocky and opponent Ivan Drago announce their upcoming bout in Russia. In theaters, Drago doesn’t speak at all, but in the cut scene, he states, “I cannot be defeated.” Stallone then expressed his bewilderment that the line was ever axed in the first place.
As longtime Rocky fans will know, the fourth movie followed Rocky Balboa (Stallone) getting revenge against Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) after the latter kills Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the middle of the ring. It can be a challenge for any fourth installment of a popular movie series to attain great success, but Rocky IV certainly accomplished that goal. Not only was the sequel a tremendous success at the box office, it did very well with fans and can even be considered a personal favorite for a large number of them. The fan interest surrounding Stallone’s social media posts teasing the new cut also prove that the movie is just as popular as ever to this day.
With or without SICO, the new Rocky IV is definitely going to be a must-see movie for any longtime fan of the franchise. While there’s no word yet on an official release date from MGM, let’s hope the new cut will be coming out just in time for Christmas. This news comes to us from Sylvester Stallone on Instagram.
