Sylvester Stallone has voiced words against Irwin Winkler, implying that the producer behind the Rocky franchise and its sequel series Creed is withholding a significant financial stake in the franchise from the actor.
Stallone has begun to voice frustrations in recent years regarding his lack of ownership over the popular film franchises, like Rocky, that he helped originate. Although Stallone received first-dollar gross on the early Rocky sequels and earned net points off of the 1976 original, which cost just over $1 million to produce and grossed $225 million globally, the actor maintains that he’s been deprived of an equity stake in the franchise.
Stallone took to Instagram to share his feeling in the most creative and verbal way as possible. Sharing a portrait of the producer as a knife-tongued serpent, he also attached a caption along with it that read, "A VERY Flattering portrait of The Great Rocky/ Creed Producer , IRWIN WINKLER, from one of the country‘s greatest artist … ALSO after IRWIN controlling ROCKY for over 47 years , and now CREED, , I really would like have at least a little WHAT’s LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN - I believe That would be a FAIR gesture from this 93 year old gentleman ? … 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 hearing from the loyal fans… Keep Punching". Check it out:
Despite being paid to star in and produce the first two Creed movies, Stallone told Variety in 2019 that he has "zero ownership of Rocky." He added that he was told not to complain since he was always paid for the films. “It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’ I was furious”, he added.
The original 1976 film was conceived by, written by, and starred Stallone, who went on to score Oscar nominations for best actor and best original screenplay. Rocky took home statuettes for best picture, director, and film editing at the 49th Academy Awards.
