Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in the hit movie Rocky in 1976 and its 5 follow-ups, but he does not own any of the rights to his work. The action star wants producer Irwin Winkler to give him “what’s left of [his] rights back.” This is a “painful topic” that “eats at my soul,” Stallone says.
“After IRWIN controlling ROCKY for over 47 years, and now CREED, I really would like to have at least a little WHAT’S LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN – I think that would be a FAIR gesture from this 93-year-old gentleman,” Stallone wrote in the caption of a “very flattering” drawing of Winkler with a blade sticking out of his mouth and a snake-like body.
He went on, “This is a painful subject that eats at my soul because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children, but it’s always great to hear from the loyal fans… Keep Punching.”
Stallone has been fighting over the rights to the Rocky franchise for a long time. He was paid about $75,000 (for the screenplay and his acting fees) plus 10 net points, which gave him at least $2.5 million for the first movie, according to a calculation he gave to Variety.
He told the outlet that he didn’t push the issue of ownership rights at the time because “there was a certain code of business conduct, maybe not as much now, but back then, that you don’t ruffle the feathers of the golden goose.”
He has talked about it before, but he was told that his pay was fair.
Creed, which came out in 2015, and its sequel, which came out two years later, added to the Rocky series. On November 23, a third party will come out. This will be the first Rocky movie where Stallone won’t be in it. He will, however, work as a producer. Irwin also owns the rights to Creed, which is set in the same world as Rocky.