Sylvester Stallone remains frustrated over his ownership stake in the ongoing Rocky franchise, which has been given a breath of fresh life in recent years with the Michael B. Jordan Creed films. While Stallone has always been paid for the Rocky and Creed movies, the actor and producer maintains that he has zero ownership over the characters or franchise. On Monday, he took to Instagram to call out Rocky producer Irwin Winkler for the issue of franchise ownership.
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Stallone posted a drawing of the 93-year-old Winkler with a snake tongue coming out of his mouth, referring to it as a “very flattering portrait” of the producer. Through the post, Stallone implies that rights to the Rocky franchise are being withheld from him, and that Winkler is keeping it for himself. Take a look.
“A very flattering portrait of The Great Rocky/Creed Producer, IRWIN WINKLER, from one of the country’s greatest artist,” Stallone wrote. “ALSO, after IRWIN controlling ROCKY for over 47 years, and now CREED, I really would like to have at least a little of 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?”
Stallone went on to say that talking about the subject of the Rocky and Creed rights is “painful” for him. He concluded the post with a positive message, however, thanking the fans of the franchise for their support and love over the years.
“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,” he continued. “Keep punching.”
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.
