The Oscar-nominated writer and actor hopes to at least make the maligned sequel “acceptable.”

Sylvester Stallone is pushing Amazon to let him recut Rocky V, calls movie ‘a thorn in my side’

The Oscar-nominated writer and actor hopes to at least make the maligned sequel “acceptable.”

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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September 29, 2026 12:44 p.m. ET

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Sylvester Stallone in ‘Rocky V’. Credit:

- Sylvester Stallone wants to recut *Rocky V*.

- He calls the movie “a thorn in my side.”

- Stallone admits that the maligned sequel would still only just be “acceptable.”

Sylvester Stallone is ready to knock out a new version of *Rocky V*.

The story of Stallone’s determined mission to get the original *Rocky* off the ground will soon be documented on the big screen in *I Play Rocky*, but the 80-year-old icon is more concerned with the most maligned installment of the franchise. Stallone says he is pushing Amazon to let him recut 1990’s *Rocky V*, calling the film “a thorn in my side.”

“It bothers me to death because I know I took my foot off the gas,” he said on Monday at a 92NY conversation. “I should have been more aware of not trying to be cool to the audience.”

John G. Avildsen directed the first film, before Stallone took over for the next three sequels, only for Avildsen to helm *Rocky V*. Stallone thinks that he should have remained in the director’s chair, a role he returned to for the sixth movie, 2006’s *Rocky Balboa*.

In a separate conversation with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM, Stallone admitted of *Rocky V*, “I don’t think I had my heart and soul in it.”

Sylvester Stallone in 2024.

David Becker/Getty

Written by Stallone, *Rocky V* pulled the rug from under the titular boxer. He retires from the sport due to a severe medical issue and goes bankrupt because of some poor business dealings by Paulie (Burt Young), who, let’s be honest, shouldn’t even be in charge of his own money. After moving back to the working-class area of Philadelphia, Rocky begins training a young fighter named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison). Tommy turns on Rocky though, once he finds some success and is told that he needs to face-off with his mentor. When Rocky refuses, Tommy punches Paulie, initiating a brutal street fight between Tommy and Rocky.

*Rocky V* was a critical and commercial disappointment, with both the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score and box office earnings of the entire franchise. Stallone refused to let that be the end of Rocky’s story, eventually getting to make *Rocky Balboa* 16 years later.

If he gets the chance to recut the fifth installment, Stallone concedes that it still won’t be “great,” but it will be “acceptable.”

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Stallone isn’t involved with the upcoming *I Play Rocky*, but when the first trailer dropped, he threw his weight behind the project. “Every story has a beginning and I’m excited to see this one brought to life,” he wrote on social media. “Congratulations to the cast and crew of *I Play Rocky*. Keep punching.”

“It’s really humbling to see his support,” Anthony Ippolito, who plays Stallone, recently told **. “It’s been 50 years since *Rocky* was released so you can’t help but feel nostalgic. In a lot of ways, Stallone’s actual underdog story is just as compelling as the one he wrote. Hopefully it allows him to reminisce about some of these pivotal moments in his life.”

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