Paulie’s robot Sico has been axed from Sylvester Stallone’s new cut of Rocky IV, and the creator of the machine believes it was a cost-cutting measure. In the works to honor the 35th anniversary of the release of the hit sequel, Stallone’s Rocky IV Director’s Cut has a lot of excitement surrounding the project. With so many fans asking about it, Stallone has been speaking about its progress on social media. When one fan questioned Sico’s involvement, Stallone revealed that he cut the robot’s scene, stating that poor Sico was “going to the junkyard forever.”
Word of Sico getting the boot made its way back to the robot’s creator, International Robotics founder Robert Doornick, who also provided the voice of the robot. Speaking about the news in a new interview with Empire, Doornick explained what he believes to be the reasoning behind Stallone cutting the scene. Here’s what he said in the publication’s November issue.
“I was in my office when I found out. I was deluged with messages: ‘How can Stallone do that?’ But I know why he’s doing it, because I know he loves the robot. By causing turmoil among the fans of Sico, it generates more publicity. And by removing the robot from the movie, it saves money in royalty fees, because he is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Sico receives cheques all the time – and of course he sends them over to me.”
Written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, Rocky IV was released in theaters in 1985. It continues the story of boxing legend Rocky Balboa with Stallone back in the titular role. Dolph Lundgren also stars as Ivan Drago, a fearsome Russian fighter whom Rocky competes against. Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Brigitte Nielsen also star. The events of the movie were referenced in the sequel Creed II, which followed Apollo Creed’s son as he feuds with Drago’s son, Viktor.
Sico the robot was featured in a particularly memorable scene in Rocky IV, though he wasn’t exactly vital to the plot. A real robot, Sico was written into Rocky IV after Stallone had first employed the machine to help entertain his austistic son. The robot is given to Paulie as a gift by Rocky and his family in the movie.
Details on the release of the Director’s Cut of Rocky 4 aren’t yet clear. In August, Stallone posted on Instagram that the project was in the works to commemorate the movie’s 35th anniversary. The original was released in theaters on Nov. 27, 1985, so we might be seeing the Rocky IV Director’s Cut by the end of the year.
Also included in the Empire story is an excerpt from a Rocky IV spinoff script that was never produced, and the fact that it was never made is nothing short of a tragedy. Developed by Doornick and Burt Young, the proposed spinoff would have been a sitcom that followed Paulie and Sico. Additional details will be revealed in Empire’s November issue. This news comes to us from Empire.
