Sylvester Stallone has indicated he is leaving the "Rocky" franchise following the recently released eighth film in the series "Creed II."
"I guess this is a pretty significant moment," tweeted Stallone, 72, who reprised his role as Rocky Balboa, the former heavyweight boxing champ now mentoring boxer Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). "It was the last night of filming and probably my last privileged time of playing my beloved friend, Rocky ... Toward the end the camera gets ..." he wrote, linking to a since deleted Instagram video he later reposted after "a technical difficulty."
"Well, this is probably my last rodeo because what I thought happened, and has happened, I never expected," Stallone says vaguely in the video, posted Wednesday and evidently shot when production wrapped in June. Standing on a beach at night, with a crowd briefly visible before the camera records him solo, Stallone says, "I thought Rocky was over in 2006" with "Rocky Balboa," the well-received sixth film, "and I was very happy with that. And then all of a sudden this young man presented himself," he continues, indicating an off-camera Jordan, "and the whole story changed. It went on to a new generation, new problems, new adventures."
After adding that, "I couldn't be happier, because as I step back, as my story has been told, there's a whole new world that's going to be opening up for the audience," Stallone thanked "Creed II" director Steven Caple Jr. "and definitely you, Michael, for making that possible."
As Jordan walks into frame, where he and Stallone clasp hands and hug, Stallone tells him, "Now, you have to carry the mantle!"
"I got you!" replies Jordan, as the two raise their arms in a victory gesture. "There it is!" Stallone says happily.
In an accompanying Instagram message, he wrote, "I just want to thank everyone around the whole wide World for taking the Rocky family into their hearts for over 40 years. It's been my Ultimate privilege to have been able to create and play this meaningful character" that originated in the 1976 best picture Oscar winner "Rocky," for which Stallone earned Oscar nominations as actor and screenwriter. "Though it breaks my heart, Sadly all things must pass ... and end. I love you Kind and generous people , and The most wonderful thing of all, is that ROCKY will never die because he lives on in you."
Stallone continues to work in other roles. Last year he filmed the as-yet-unreleased "Escape Plan 3: Devil's Station" and he is currently shooting "Rambo 5: Last Blood." He said on social media in January that after having dropped out of "The Expendables 4," he was back in, though it was unclear if that film, which was scheduled to begin production in August, remains an active project.
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