A Creed spinoff movie centered on the Rocky franchise’s Drago family is in the works at MGM. The studio is yet to announce the film, reportedly titled Drago, officially, but multiple news outlets have confirmed the scoop. Dolph Lundgren also hinted last year that MGM was interested in a Drago spinoff, but the idea seemed too farfetched at the time.

First reported by The Wrap, Drago will be written by Robert Lawton and will feature Ivan Drago, the iconic villain of Rocky IV, and his son Viktor, who last appeared in 2018’s Creed 2. Lawton won the 2021 Nicholl Fellowship for his spec script Becoming Rocky, about the making of the 1976 classic. Impressed with Lawton’s script, MGM immediately accepted his Drago pitch as well. Lawton previously wrote the 2011 thriller Crave.

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Other plot details are being kept under wraps, but Drago will certainly make for an intriguing story, especially considering how the tables turned on the Russian after Rocky IV. Ivan was a Soviet hero in Rocky IV, whose superior power and size resulted in the death of a newly unretired Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Drago’s famous quote, “If he dies, he dies,” turned him into a fearsome legend in the movie and in pop culture as well.

But Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa traveled to Russia and beat Drago in a hard-fought battle. Balboa won over the crowd and walked away with the crown, while Drago was divorced, shunned, and exiled to Ukraine, forced to raise his son Viktor (Florian Munteanu) alone. Creed 2 portrayed the father-son duo with nuance, unlike the caricature Ivan was in Rocky IV. The film also cut a confrontation scene between Rocky and Ivan that further humanized the characters. Lundgren recently told THR how Drago was a product of his time.

Drago doesn’t have a release date yet.

“When I played the character, I did a backstory about how he was brought up by the state and they controlled him. He didn’t have much say. He wasn’t really an evil person; he was just a product of the system. He’s Frankenstein’s monster. He’s not Dr. Frankenstein; that was the Soviet Union. So I always played that, and some of that came across in ’85. Sly and I are friends, but now, I guess he wanted to show the other side of the character. So I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

Creed Franchise is Carrying on the Legacy of Rocky

     Waner Bros. Pictures

Sylvester Stallone may have moved on from Rocky, but the franchise continues to expand with the Creed movies. And any chance of Stallone returning in future movies went down the drain last week when he called out producer Irwin Winkler and his son David for controlling the rights to Rocky for 47 years. Calling the Winklers “parasites” and “untalented,” Stallone demanded the rights back, but it’s unclear if he’ll pursue any legal action.

However, the franchise is moving forward without him with the Creed series, led by Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson. Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) revived the series with 2015’s Creed, starring Jordan as Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed. The film was a big success and earned Stallone his first acting Oscar nomination. The 2018 sequel was less critically favored but was well-received by the fans.

Creed III is set to arrive this year, with Jordan making his feature directorial debut. Munteanu will also return to the film alongside newcomers Jonathan Majors, Selenis Leyva, and Thaddeus J. Mixson.

Creed III will premiere on November 23, 2022.