Sylvester Stallone accuses Rocky producer Irwin Winkler of withholding ownership rights to the film franchise in a new social media post. The first Rocky movie was released in 1976 and became a box-office smash hit. The film would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and would become the highest-grossing film of the year. Rocky’s success led to four more sequels, as well as a sequel series of films that began with 2015’s Creed.
Stallone, playing the titular role of Rocky Balboa, has so far appeared in all eight Rocky and Creed movies. Stallone stated in April of 2021 that he will not be appearing in the upcoming Creed III, but that there are have been ongoing discussions of a Rocky prequel series. Alongside Stallone’s long-standing involvement with the franchise, Winkler has been the producer on every Rocky film and spinoff. In 2019, Stallone revealed that despite writing the original Rocky film and appearing in every single franchise installment, he had zero ownership of the property.
Related: How The Creed Movies Can Beat The Rocky Franchise
In a post on social media, Stallone accuses the 93-year-old Winkler of withholding ownership rights to Rocky. Stallone posts a highly stylized image of Winkler’s face on a snake’s body, with a knife for a tongue. Alongside the image, Stallone’s caption says that after 47 years of Winkler controlling Rocky, he wants “what’s left of [his] rights back.” Stallone goes on to say that while this is a very painful subject for him to discuss, he wants something of Rocky to leave behind for his children, and thanks his loyal fans for standing by him. See Stallone’s post below:
View the original post here.
Over the past several years, Stallone has been voicing his frustrations over his lack of ownership in the Rocky franchise. In a 2019 interview, Winkler said he was surprised to learn that Stallone was displeased with the situation, because while Stallone doesn’t have ownership rights, he still made millions off of the franchise. Starring in and producing both Creed and Creed II, Stallone made more than $10 million on both films, though he still doesn’t have an ownership stake. Stallone admitted to being furious that he was told to stop complaining over the ownership debate solely because of the amount of money he made on the Rocky films.
While Stallone’s cut in the Rocky profits is incredibly substantial, Stallone’s continued displeasure over ownership rights seems to stem from wanting to leave the Rocky legacy for his children. A father of five, Stallone’s late son Sage even appeared in Rocky V as the boxer’s son, showing how entwined the Stallone family is with the Rocky franchise. While there hasn’t been any comment from Winkler or any public discussion about Stallone gaining the rights to the Rocky series, both Stallone and his loyal fans aren’t pulling punches when it comes to demanding that Stallone have partial ownership.
Next: Rocky III Changed The Franchise In 6 Major Ways
Source: Sylvester Stallone/Instagram
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