Sylvester Stallone has hit out at Rocky producer Irwin Winkler over the rights to the franchise, branding him ‘parasitic’.
In a since-deleted post on Instagram, Stallone shared a grotesque caricature of the producer, writing: “After Irwin controlling Rocky for over 47 years, and now Creed, I really would like 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 added: “This is a painful subject That eats at my soul, because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children.”
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Stallone also shared the cover of a book written by Irwin’s son David Winkler - who was a producer on Rocky Balboa and the Creed movies - saying he was ‘the painfully untalented … son of the remarkably untalented and parasitical’ Winkler.
He went on to say that if it wasn’t for Winkler there would be ‘at least three’ more Rocky movies.
To date, the franchise has spawned six Rocky movies as well as the spin-off Creed flicks, of which there are two with a third due out later this year.
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Stallone who wrote the original screenplay for Rocky - as well as starring as the titular character in eight films - does not own the rights to the character.
In an interview with Variety back in 2019, Stallone admitted to being ‘furious’ about the situation.
“I have zero ownership of Rocky,” he said.
“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.”
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In 2018, Stallone announced he would no longer be playing the character - meaning he won’t be making an appearance in Creed III.
In an interview with IGN Michael B. Jordan - who plays Adonis Creed - said Rocky’s ‘spirit’ would remain.
He said: "Yeah, I think that Sly let it be known that he wasn’t coming back for this one but I think, you know, his essence and his spirit… there’s always going to be a little bit of Rocky within Adonis.
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"But this is a Creed franchise, and we really want to build this story and this world around him moving forward. So, it’s always respect and always a s**t-ton of love for what he’s built, but we really want to push and navigate Adonis forward and the family that he created.”
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Topics: Film and TV
Claire Reid