Sylvester Stallone Reveals New Poster For Director’s Cut Of A Classic Movie

Sylvester Stallone has a new director's cut coming out.

By Apeksha Bagchi | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

sylvester stallone

Despite receiving some rather negative reviews from critics, Rocky IV remains the most financially successful film in the Rocky franchise and a favorite of its fans. So, it is only fitting that as the 35th anniversary of the film approaches, we finally get to know when we will be treated to the director’s cut of the film Sylvester Stallone has been teasing for months now. What makes the reveal extra special is the stellar poster for the film and a fresh title that has also been unveiled by the actor-writer-director. 

In a recent Instagram post, Sylvester Stallone, who directed, wrote, and starred in Rocky IV, shared that in honor of the 35th anniversary of the film he will be releasing its director’s cut, titled Rocky vs. Drago, The Ultimate Director’s Cut, in theaters in widescreen and 4K. The director’s cut will be theatrically released on November 11, 2021. In his post, Stallone also mentioned the technicians that helped him bring back the film to its modern glory and thanked them for making his vision come alive in “an amazing way.” The post also includes a brand new poster, featuring Stallone’s Rocky Balboa opposite Dolph Lundgren’s Ivan Drago.

rocky 4 poster

To date, Rocky IV remains one of the most famous Hollywood films and as mentioned, the most successful in the franchise. Released in 1985, the film once again narrated the story of heavyweight boxer Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone. He surrenders his championship to fight a match in the Soviet Union against its national champion, Ivan Drago. The sole aim of Rocky in fighting Drago is to avenge the death of his best friend Apollo Creed, who was badly beaten to death in his own bout against Drago. Even though Drago is hooked to steroids and has exceptionally advanced equipment to train in comparison to Rocky, the latter ends up beating him and earning the respect of his people as well. 

The events that take place in Rocky IV led to the conception of the 2018 spinoff Creed II, where Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky trains Creed’s son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) to fight against Drago’s son, Victor after losing to him in the World Heavyweight Championship. 

Even though it has been some time since Sylvester Stallone has played his iconic character, he will forever be Rocky Balboa for his fans, especially since his latest gym video on Instagram is like a flashback to his scenes as Rocky when he was extensively training for a match. In the short video, Stallone can be seen performing a variation of a getup with a plate grip during a recent session with personal trainer and strength coach Gunnar Peterson. Even at 74, the action star manages to rise to his feet while holding the extremely heavy weights without dropping them. 

While Sylvester Stallone has appeared in every Rocky film as well as its spinoff Creed film series starring Michael B Jordan as the lead, Creed III, due to release in 2022 will be the first film in the franchise that will not feature his renowned character. Still, we have Rocky IV’s director’s cut to binge on!