Is Rocky 7 Possible?

Interesting news for you about Rocky Balboa today at Life After Gateway.
With the new film I Play Rocky getting rave reviews — and it is clearly an uplifting and inspiring film about overcoming tremendous odds, and it’s currently garnering great success, which I just posted about yesterday — Stallone is in the news talking about the possibility of yet another installment in the franchise.
The News
Over at TV Insider, Stallone is saying that he has written a script about Rocky as an older man doing philanthropic/volunteer work in his neighbourhood, and dealing with the changes that his community is going through. It doesn’t sound like a sports film; rather, it’s something more introspective about life and change. After all, the actor and character is turning eighty this year. He says ,
“I have written another chapter to the Rocky saga, and I think it would be a good opportunity to explore life outside the ring and how the world is changing around him and how his neighborhood is not like it once was, and he devotes himself to the less fortunate, but I don’t know if it would really be that interesting to most people. So, I just wrote it for myself.”
The previous solo iteration of Rocky was in 2006’s Rocky Balboa, although the character also appeared in the recent Creed films. Stallone has recently published his memoir, The Steps, and is riding high after that, along with the success of TV-streaming drama Tulsa King, and also the pretty-much-guaranteed success of I Play Rocky, a movie whose trailer just knocks out viewers.
Head on over to TV Insider to read the full Sylvester Stallone interview.
In the meantime, as a video bonus, enjoy one of my favourite scenes from the Rocky franchise — his motivational speech from which everyone can learn. I won’t say I’m a massive fan of these films, although I do love Rocky IV and how it not only represented global politics at the time, but it’s also a near-perfect piece of escapist entertainment.
Life is hard. It is relentless, and it never stops throwing shots at you. I’ve endured a lot. I’ve watched my friends and family face the fury, sometimes helpless to stop it. I’ve watched friends struggle as life for them grew harder. Sometimes just waking up and getting out of bed is a challenge. Facing the day when there are immense challenges in the way … grief, or sorrow, or financial issues, or relationship struggles. Family trouble. The list goes on. As a father, I’ve watched as my children grew older and the careless joy they had as youngsters slowly became less and less common. This is normal, as the harsh reality of the world becomes clear to us as we age. The only thing I can do is reiterate what Rocky says here. It’s a critically important lesson, and I hope others learn from it too. If you follow this advice, life will still be hard, but success through the challenges will be more possible to achieve.
Don’t give up … keep moving forward.
If another Rocky film eventually comes out, I’ll see it for sure. Here’s Rocky’s advice; I’ve shortened the clip to the relevant scene. Credit to YouTube channel Official Rocky Balboa.
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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 29 October 2026
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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel
“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop
“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite
“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories
“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest
“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels
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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!
WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.
But the assassin could be anyone …
Watch your back, Mac.
A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE
The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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TSJ’s Awards
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist




