Sylvester Stallone isn’t giving up his fight for the rights to Rocky. The super-star actor, writer, and director created the long-running franchise that began with the 1976 Best Picture winner, as much an underdog as Stallone’s Philly slum boxer-turned-contender Rocky Balboa. Directed by John G. Avildsen and produced by Oscar winners Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, Rocky spawned five sequels and the hit Creed spin-off starring Michael B. Jordan. Stallone wrote every Rocky, directing II, III, IV, and Rocky Balboa. But Stallone, now 76, wouldn’t receive his first producer’s credit on the franchise he created until 2015’s Creed, also produced by Winkler-Chartoff and MGM.
In 2019, Stallone told Variety he had “zero ownership of Rocky,” a heavyweight franchise that has grossed nearly $2 billion in box office receipts since 1976. Despite having no ownership stake in Rocky — the character or the saga — Stallone said that year he was working on another chapter for Winkler’s production company and co-owners MGM.
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But by July 2021, Stallone took to Instagram to tell fans about “a painful subject that eats at my soul.” Sharing an image that appeared to depict the 93-year-old Winkler as a snake, Stallone wrote of the Rocky franchise producer, “After IRWIN controlling ROCKY for over 47years, 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 YOURCHILDREN,” Stallone wrote. “I believe That would be a FAIR gesture fromthis 93 year old gentleman ?”
“Iwanted to leave something of Rocky for my children,” Stallone added, later slamming Winkler in another post for “exploiting” the franchise with a reported Drago spin-off starringDolph Lundgren.
“It’s never gonna happen. It was a deal that was done unbeknownst to me by people that I thought were close to me and they basically gave away whatever rights I would have had,” Stallone told The Hollywood Reporter when asked if Winkler would share the Rocky rights. “At the time I was so excited to be working and I didn’t understand this is a business. Who knew Rocky would go on for another 45 years? I’ve never used one [line of dialogue] from anyone else — and the irony is that I don’t own any of it. The people who have done literally nothing, control it.”
Stallone was a struggling actor when he wrote Rocky, famously turning down $300,000 to ensure he could play the character over stars like Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Ryan O’Neal.
Explaining the vitrol in his since-deleted portrait of “blood-sucker” Winkler, Stallone said, “They wanted another Rocky. And I was willing to do it. But I said, ‘After 45 years, can we change the playing field a little bit? Level it out? Can’t I get a piece of what I created all these years ago?’”
In the proposed deal, Stallone wouldn’t claim ownership over past Rocky movies, but would have a stake and a say in the franchise “from now on.”
“I didn’t expect to get [ownership] –– yeah, forget that. [The producers] still get a piece. I don’t want anyone to control it,” Stallone explained. “If I write it and the studio agrees to do it, it’s done. You can’t [make a Rocky sequel] just because you want your children to have a job. Or if you don’t get more money, that you can block it. The other producer, Bob Chartoff, was always very nice. Irwin Winkler was just the opposite.”
As for Lundgren — who played the Soviet superstar Ivan Drago in 1985’s Rocky IV, reprising his role in 2018’s Creed II — Stallone revealed there’s no bad blood with his friend and Expendables co-star. Lundgren in July issued a statement on Instagram, clarifying that there was no script or deal in place for Drago and that he was “under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor.”
“Yeah, we did [patch things up] … The Dolph thing, again. This is a classic case of them going around and trying to continually cherry-pick aspects of Rocky without even asking me if I want to join in,” Stallone said. “I’m not an executive producer on the Creed movies. [Creed I director] Ryan Coogler is. Michael B. Jordan is. [Winkler and Chartoff’s] children are. Not mine. I’m the only one left out.”
Stallone does not return as Rocky in Creed III, in theaters on March 3rd, 2023. Tulsa King, the new series from Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan starring Stallone, is streaming November 13th on Paramount+. Sign up for Paramount+ here.
