Nowadays it seems like a given that almost every hit musical will eventually get turned into a movie, and increasingly we’ve been finding that the reverse is also true: a lot of popular movies are being turned into musicals. Everything from The Evil Dead to The Toxic Avenger to Spider-Man have recently received stage adaptations, partially in an attempt to woo genre fans and other folks who wouldn’t normally be interested in musicals. Now it appears that one of the manliest franchises of all time is finally about to get turned into a musical: the tale of the Italian Stallion himself, Rocky Balboa. Yes, it’s true, Rocky: The Musical is set to open next year in Germany, and Sylvester Stallone is even involved as a co-producer. Who’s in?

When you think about it, Rocky is actually a perfect movie to turn into a musical since music has played such a large role in all of the films. Songs like “Gonna Fly Now” and “Eye of the Tiger,” will indeed be included in the production. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime) will re-interpret the songs while Tony-award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers) will write the book.

As you might also expect, a lot more emphasis will be placed on the love story between Rocky and Adrian. The weird thing is that it sounds like the choreography will be based partially on boxing moves with Ukranian boxing stars Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko helping to train the cast. No word on plans to bring it to America, but if it’s a hit overseas, I’m sure the U.S. would be the next stop. Either way, let’s hope it’s not another fiasco on par with Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. Would you pay to see a Rocky musical?