Sylvester Stallone Announces His Retirement From Acting?
Sylvester Stallone gave a quote, while promoting Tulsa King, that he's likely to just be directing and writing in the future, saying his days in front of the camera may be over soon.
After over 50 years as a professional actor, multiple major awards, and creating one of the greatest franchises in Hollywood history, Sylvester Stallone has nothing left to prove. In a profile with Indiewire on the Tulsa King star, Stallone responded to a question asking if he’d like to write and direct again, by saying “I might, but maybe not the acting. I doubt the acting aspect of it. I think this might be my swan song.”
“I might, but maybe not the acting. I doubt the acting aspect of it. I think this might be my swan song.”
Sylvester Stallone on if he will be acting and directing in the future
Ever since Rocky took over the world and launched a still-going franchise, Sylvester Stallone has been a star, and more importantly, he’s been a writer, director, producer, and a leading man for 45 years. The only Rocky film that was not written or directed by Stallone is Rocky V, widely considered to be the worst of the franchise, and it was such a box office flop that it took 16 years for another Rocky film, Rocky Balboa, to be released. Throughout his career, Stallone’s level of involvement has directly correlated to the success of the project.
As someone said to Sylvester Stallone, “Every time you direct your own thing, it always works, every time you try to bring someone else in because you want to go out and play golf, it doesn’t work.” Who said that? You guessed it, Frank Stallone.
If Tulsa King does turn out to be the last time Sylvester Stallone is in front of the camera, it will be an excellent send off. The series, created by the man behind Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan, finds the Italian Stallion playing Dwight Manfredi, an exiled New York mob boss that finds himself starting all over in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As an executive producer on the series, Stallone tinkered and molded the character of Manfredi during pre-production, to try and get the role as close to the star’s own personality as possible.
Later this year, Sylvester Stallone can be seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Expendables 4. Of note, the Expendables franchise is another example of Stallone writing/starring in his own material, he even directed the first film as well. If the Demolition Man star had never acted, he still would have had an award-winning, successful Hollywood career as just a screenwriter.
Future projects that might be lucky enough to have Sylvester Stallone behind the camera include Poe, an Edgar Allen Poe biopic that has been a long-simmering passion project of the star, and Tenderloin, a police drama set at the turn of the last century, 1900’s New York. There’s no word yet on if either project will still happen, but if the Stop or My Mom Will Shoot star is working full-time as a director, writer, and producer, than chances are nothing will stop him from reaching his goals.
For now, Sylvester Stallone can be seen in Tulsa King on Paramount+, the first season is streaming now while the show has been renewed for a second season, which currently has no release date.
