Sylvester Stallone on Creed 3: 'Regretfull situation' for 'Rocky' franchise

Creed star Sylvester Stallone will not be returning for the third installment of the film, as he had other plans for it.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Rocky star said that the upcoming Creed 3 was taken in a "very different direction" from what he initially thought.

"That's a regretful situation because I know what it could have been," he said.

"It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would've taken it. It's a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler's and Michael B. Jordan's. I wish them well, but I'm much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don't want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness."

Previously, Stallone slammed the Rocky spinoff of Drago by calling the producers "parasites."

"This is a classic case of them going around and trying to continually cherry-pick aspects of Rocky without even asking me if I want to join in," he said. "I'm not an executive producer on the Creed movies. [Director] Ryan Coogler is. [Star] Michael B. Jordan is. [Winkler and Chartoff's] children are. Not mine. I'm the only one left out."