Sylvester Stallone has confirmed he won't be returning as Rocky Balboa in Creed III.
The 74-year-old reprised his iconic role for the first two films, which starred Michael B. Jordan.
His representative revealed to The Hollywood Reporter the Hollywood action man has no involvement in the third instalment.
The star's rep didn't further explain the star's reason to not be in the upcoming film.
Sylvester created the legendary character for himself in the original 1976 movie Rocky, which he wrote and starred in.
He appeared in six movies over a 40-year period in the original Rocky franchise.
Director Ryan Coogler brought back the franchise in 2015 and the Creed movies follow Michael B Jordan’s character Adonis ‘Donnie’ Creed being trained by Rocky.
Adonis is the son of Rocky's late rival from the original franchise, Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers).
Michael will be making his directorial debut for the third film with filming beginning this year for a release in 2022 and Zach Baylin will be writing the script.
"Directing has always been an aspiration, but the timing had to be right,"Michael said in a statement.
"Creed III is that moment — a time in my life where I’ve grown more sure of who I am, holding agency in my own story, maturing personally, growing professionally, and learning from the greats like Ryan Coogler, most recently Denzel Washington, and other top tier directors I respect."
He continued: "All of which sets the table for this moment. This franchise and in particular the themes of Creed III are deeply personal to me.
"I look forward to sharing the next chapter of Adonis Creed’s story with the awesome responsibility of being its director and namesake."
Meanwhile, Sylvester has been busy working on his new voice role as King Shark for the upcoming The Suicide Squad.
King Shark is a man-eating fish-human hybrid with enhanced strength and endurance while easily regenerating any lost bodily tissue.
He will also be starring as Stanley Kominski in the new superhero thriller Samaritan, which will be a ‘dark’ take on classic superhero movies.
