Sylvester Stallone has taken to social media to call out Rocky producer Irwin Winkler as part of an ongoing dispute over ownership rights to the long-running boxing franchise.
As reported by Deadline, Stallone pulled no punches on Sunday morning when he shared an illustrated image depicting Winkler as a knife-tongued serpent on Instagram. In the caption of the post, he addressed Winkler directly, calling for a "fair gesture" from the 93-year-old producer, who he says is withholding ownership of the franchise and its sequel series Creed.
"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," Stallone wrote. "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."
Stallone portrayed Rocky Balboa in eight films, directed four of them, and served as a writer or co-writer on all the Rocky films and Creed II. He then announced in 2018 that he would be officially hanging up his gloves and retiring from the role, meaning that he would not return for Creed III, the next entry in the Michael B. Jordan-starring Rocky spin-off series.
In recent years, Stallone has voiced his frustrations over his lack of ownership of Rocky considering his involvement in the franchise. According to Variety, Stallone was paid $75K plus 10 net points, which equated to at least $2.5m for the first movie. Another source claimed the actor had made more than $10m on Creed and in the mid-teens on Creed II.
However, Stallone told the outlet in 2019 that he had "zero ownership" of the lucractive franchise. "When I finally confronted them, I said, 'Does it bother you guys that I've written every word, I've choreographed it, I've been loyal to you, I've promoted it, directed it and I don't have 1% that I could leave for my children?' And the quote was, 'You got paid.'"
Creed III, starring Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed, is due to hit cinemas on November 23, just over a year after the release of the ultimate director's cut of Rocky IV. IGN's review of Rocky Vs. Drago praised Stallone for managing to "wonderfully fine-tune Rocky IV with The Ultimate Director's Cut, chopping out what didn't work and keeping what did."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.