Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise made him the star he is today, but it is also his brainchild. As he wrote the captivating story of the first movie of the franchise, he had very little idea of the future of the franchise’s astonishing success.
Stallone, who was a struggling actor at the time, convinced the producers to star himself in the movie, and it made all the difference. However, despite writing several movies in the franchise and being its original creator, the actor had no rights to anything related to the franchise.
Sylvester Stallone’s Long Battle For Rocky Rights
Sylvester Stallone crafted the Rocky universe, yet his foundational rights for Rocky were never rock solid. The actor was never on the receiving end of tasting the pie of the huge franchise. Stallone has been fighting the battle over the rights to the boxing movie series with Irwin Winkler. The 77-year-old has also been vocal and public about his battle.
Previously, the actor took to his Instagram as he shared a (now deleted) drawing of Winkler with a snake’s body and a dagger for a tongue. “A VERY Flattering portrait of The Great Rocky/ Creed Producer, IRWIN WINKLER, from one of the country’s greatest artist(s),” Stallone captioned (via PEOPLE).
“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 ?”
Stallone went on to admit that the debacle between him and the 92-year-old producer “is a painful subject.” That is devastating for the actor and “eats at my soul because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children.” Still, the Rambo star is proud of what he has created and the success of it, and also grateful for the loyal fans supporting his walk on the roads in his days of pain and joy.
Sylvester Stallone Has “Zero Ownership” of the Rocky Franchise
Stallone candidly admitted that the Rocky Franchise has changed his fate in Hollywood, making him a star with global fame, but it was also a hard punch right in his face. The actor is still enduring the bruises from the punch over the rights as he has “zero ownership” despite creating the franchise. Speaking with Variety, Stallone revealed how he was kept away from equity stake in the franchise, which would secure an inherent cash flow for his children even after his death.
“I have zero ownership of ‘Rocky.’ Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault. 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… You don’t want to ruffle the feathers of the golden goose.”
However, in fairness to the discussion, Stallone also made a fortune out of the franchise. As the actor was fighting for his stake in the movie series, a reaction from the producer’s front appeared on Variety. “He made money from every angle and still does, so I don’t know what he’s complaining about,” an anonymous source told the outlet. Another source revealed that the actor made over $10 million from the Rocky spin-off Creed and continued to make money from the sequel as well.
Regardless, Rocky, released in 1976, will be one of the most important movies of Stallone’s career, which gave the actor a surprising twist to his life. The movie secured nine Oscar nods, winning three, including the Best Picture award.