May 31, 2021
It sounds like the highly-anticipated director's cut of "Rocky IV" will be released in the not-so-distant future.
Sylvester Stallone took to Instagram to unveil the first poster for the re-edited film, teasing that the movie will be "coming pretty soon." The actor and screenwriter also revealed that the director's cut will premiere in Philadelphia, the home city of the Italian Stallion.
The first film poster for "Rocky vs. Drago — The Ultimate Director's Cut" features the silhouette of Rocky Balboa in the boxing ring with the shadow of Ivan Drago looming over him.
A specific release date for the film has not been unveiled yet. It is also unknown yet whether the director's cut will be released in theaters, go straight to streaming or be a combination of both.
Stallone announced last August that he would be releasing a re-edited version of "Rocky IV" in honor of the film's 35th anniversary, which was this past November. He said at the time that the storyline of Paulie Pennino and his robot maid, which Rocky and his family got Paulie for his birthday in the film, will be cut from the re-edited version.
But since unveiling the news about the forthcoming film, Stallone has occasionally posted updates to his Instagram about the re-editing process and taken fans behind the scenes of what he's working on.
Last September, he shared that he was adding footage from Apollo Creed's fatal fight against Drago. After putting the finishing touches on the film in February, Stallone said last month that the project was done and ready to go.
Stallone said in April that he will be releasing a full length, behind-the-scenes documentary called "Keep Punching: The Present Meets the Past" that will take fans inside the re-editing process.
"Rocky IV," the fourth film in the critically-acclaimed "Rocky" film franchise, tells the story of Balboa knocking out the Soviet boxer Drago in an epic fight in Moscow after the latter kills Creed. "Rocky IV" is the most financially-successful movie in the "Rocky" film franchise, having brought in $300 million at the box office in 1985.
Along with reprising his role as the southpaw from Philadelphia for a fourth time, Stallone both wrote and directed "Rocky IV." Stallone wrote all six "Rocky" films and also directed "Rocky II," "Rocky III" and "Rocky Balboa."
"Rocky IV," along with the other five "Rocky" films, is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
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