Rocky 4 Robot Update: It’s gone! Director Cut coming for 35th anniversary

Stallone wrote on his official Instagram page, "For the 35th anniversary Rocky 4 Is getting a new DIRECTORS cut by me. So far it looks great. Soulful.. Thank you MGM For this opportunity to entertain." You can check out the Instagram post below:

ROCKY IV fans began to flood the post with comments over their excitement for the director's cut but soon questions arose about Rocky's right-hand man Paulie and his robot, which has been panned and revered in equal measure. Stallone responded to some fans' queries about the robot and he made it clear about cutting the bot by saying "I don't like the robot anymore." Judging from his comments to fans, the robot sub-plot may be scrapped entirely.

The history of the bot actually also goes back to Stallone's personal life. The robot's actual designer, Robert Doornick, said as recently as 2016 that Stallone caught wind of the robot (before production on ROCKY IV began) and contacted his team wondering if it could help with his son Seargeoh, who is autistic.  According to Doornick, they loaned the Stallone family the robot … and supposedly, it was a huge hit with his son. As a favor to his boy, Stallone wrote the robot into the movie for a cameo role. So, while Stallone is likely appreciative of what the bot did to help his son in real life, he's probably very aware that the robot is a rather campy part of the film and could be eliminated without much of a commotion.

Depending on who you ask, ROCKY IV is either one of the most crowd-pleasing of the ROCKY films or just one long music video montage. The film certainly was a hit when it was released in 1985 and it became the highest-grossing sports movie for 24 years before being overtaken by THE BLIND SIDE. It is the most financially successful ROCKY film as well, grossing $127.8 million at the domestic box office and $300 million worldwide. In the film, the Soviet Union and its top boxer make an entrance into professional boxing with their best athlete Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren. He initially wants to take on World champion Rocky Balboa but Rocky's best friend Apollo Creed decides to fight him instead but is fatally beaten in the ring. Enraged, Rocky decides to fight Drago in the Soviet Union to avenge the death of his friend and defend the honor of his country. The film also stars Burt Young, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Tony Burton, Brigitte Nielsen, and Michael Pataki. Burt Young plays Paulie, the lucky actor paired with the now infamous robot. 

What do YOU want to see in the ROCKY IV director's cut? Should Paulie's Robot be scrapped?