Looks Like Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky IV Director’s Cut Just Took A Major Step Forward

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) puches out Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in the ring in Rocky IV (1985)

If there’s anyone who’s managed to stay busy over this past year, it’s Sylvester Stallone. The veteran actor managed to shoot his upcoming superhero film, Samaritan, and also provided the voice for King Shark in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. All the while, he’s been providing sweet Rocky throwbacks on social media, yet he’s also been working on another project that involves the Italian Stallion. Last year, Stallone revealed that he’s been working hard on a director’s cut of Rocky IV and, based on a recent social media post, it looks the project has just taken a major step forward.

Sylvester Stallone has been sharing updates on the progress of Rocky IV for months now, but it seems that his journey has finally reached its end. In a recent Instagram post, he confirmed that he’d reached the last day of production on the cut. He also gave viewers a peek behind the scenes by showing them around the room where they’re mixing the film. Check out the original post down below:

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A lot of work appears to have gone into making the director’s cut of Rocky IV a reality and, based on Sylvester Stallone’s message, it sounds like it’s one step closer to seeing the light of day. Like his famous character, the 74-year-old actor never goes down without putting up a good fight!

Sylvester Stallone’s excitement for the Rocky IV director’s cut seems to be matched by that of the franchise’s fans. They seem to be responding positively to the idea of a more complete version of the 1985 classic. One even went as far as to create a poster for the upcoming cut.

In addition to sharing details on the film’s progress, the actor has also been sharing interesting tidbits about the production of the original movie. He’s shared a number of outtakes from the movie and has discussed the climactic fight sequence between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago. Not only that, but Sylvester Stallone even shared a cool clip that shows him both acting and directing during a scene.

The actor, director and producer hasn’t given away too much regarding what audiences should expect from the upcoming film. However, he did reveal that one infamous Rocky IV scene will not appear in his cut. All I can say is that if you’re a fan of the Balboas’ robot, you may be in for disappointment.

There’s currently no telling when the Rocky IV director’s cut will arrive, as Sylvester Stallone and co. probably have to finalize a few more things first. Still, it looks like things are on the right track, which could mean fans will get to see the alternate version of the film sooner rather than later.

While you wait for the film, you can stream the theatrical version of Rocky IV on HBO Max now.

Erik Swann
Senior Content Producer

Erik Swann is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He began working with the publication in 2020 when he was hired as Weekend Editor. Today, he continues to write, edit and handle social media responsibilities over the weekend. On weekdays, he also writes TV and movie-related news and helps out with editing and social media as needed. He graduated from the University of Maryland, where he received a degree in Broadcast Journalism. After shifting into multi-platform journalism, he started working as a freelance writer and editor before joining CB. Covers superheroes, sci-fi, comedy, and almost anything else in film and TV. He eats more pizza than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.