Sylvester Stallone reveals the Rocky IV director’s cut release date, confirming the movie will play in theaters. While the Rocky franchise lives on in the Creed films, Stallone is not returning to his iconic role of Rocky Balboa for Creed 3. Stallone has decided to revisit one of his most successful films in a director’s cut titled Rocky Vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut.
Rocky IV was originally released on November 27, 1985, and was a box-office hit and to this date is still the highest-grossing film in the Rocky/Creed franchise worldwide with over $300 million dollars. Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in the film and in 2020 let fans know he was working on a director’s cut of the film that was originally set to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the original. While it didn’t make the release date, Stallone has been updating progress on the Rocky IV director’s cut, and now there is a date is set for audiences to see it.
Stallone took to Instagram to announce the film will be playing in theaters in widescreen and 4K. Rocky Vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut will have a theatrical release on November 11, 2021. Stallone thanked the technicians that helped him work on the film and complete his vision after all these years.
November has historically been a good month for the franchise. Rocky IV and Rocky V opened in November, as have the two Creed films. Creed 3 is set to open in theaters on November 23, 2022, a little over a year after the release of Rocky Vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut. November 11, 2021 lands on a Thursday and will go head to head at the box office with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It will open in theaters a week after Marvel’s Eternals and a week before Top Gun: Maverick.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, director’s cuts became extremely popular. Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Francis Ford Coppola’s directed Mario Puzo’s The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone all were greenlit and released during the pandemic. Directors could retouch old films since the footage was already shot, and studios could release the films as big events given the lack of other major releases. Rocky IV’s director cut now will arrive as theaters have opened up but also as newer films compete for audience attention. Fans of the original film will be certainly interested to check it out and it is possible the Rocky Vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut could be loved more than the original Rocky IV.
