Iconic Rocky antagonist Ivan Drago and his son, Viktor Drago, are set to return in their very own film spinning out of the events of the Creed series.
As exclusively reported by TheWrap, screenwriter Robert Lawton has been tapped to pen Drago, a new movie set within the Rocky universe of boxing films. While plot details are being kept under wraps for the time being, Drago is said to focus on both Ivan (Dolph Lundgren) and Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu). Lundgren revealed that a spinoff film focusing on the Drago family was in the works back in November 2021.
Lawton previously wrote the spec script Becoming Rocky, which chronicles the production of the original, Sylvester Stallone-led Rocky film from 1976. Lawton's script earned him an Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting in 2021. According to TheWrap, MGM executives were so impressed by Lawton's Becoming Rocky script, as well as his pitch for the Drago movie, that they opted to give him a job writing the latter.
Lundgren's Ivan Drago was the main antagonist of the 1985 film Rocky IV. Early in the film, Drago killed Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Rocky Balboa's (Stallone) friend and rival, during an exhibition match. Rocky ultimately avenged Apollo by defeating Drago in the latter's native Soviet Union.
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2015 saw the premiere of Creed, a spinoff film focusing on Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan), Apollo's illegitimate son, who is mentored by Rocky. Jordan reprised his role in 2018's Creed II, which pitted Donnie against Ivan Drago's son, Viktor Drago. Lundgren reprised his role as Ivan, with Munteanu originating the role of Viktor.
Before the planned Drago film, however, Munteanu is expected to reprise his role as Viktor in Creed III, which is currently slated for release on March 3, 2023, having been delayed from Nov. 23, 2022. The ninth film in the overall Rocky franchise, Creed III pits Jordan's Donnie Creed against a new adversary in the form of Anderson Dame (Jonathan Majors). Jordan is also directing the film, marking his feature directorial debut. Creed III will be the first film in the Rocky saga to not feature Stallone as Rocky Balboa. It is currently unclear if Stallone will be involved in Drago.
Source: TheWrap