Sylvester Stallone Puts the Producer of the 'Rocky' and 'Creed' Films on Blast for Ripping Him Off All These Years

To me, the Rocky franchise has been always been more than just a series of great films. (Along with some patently ridiculous cartoonish ones, if we're being honest.) It's also one of the great tales ever told about America. It's part of our mythos. We as a culture can see ourselves reflected in it. At least the broad themes about a down-on-his luck underdog, falling through the cracks of society alone and forgotten, who gets a shot to become something and makes the most of it through hard work, sacrifice and believing in himself. As opposed to, say, the part with Paulie's robot. They're a hero's journey. A great love story. And an inspiring saga of the power of self-determination.

And the movies take on an even deeper meaning when you dig into the backstory find out how closely it mirrors the life of the man who created it. Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor who was so broke he had to sell his beloved dog just to pay his bills and buy groceries. Then he wrote the first screenplay. A studio bought it, but wanted to cast another actor for the title role. But Stallone refused the payday, gambling on himself that someone would share his vision for his project and let him do it. Someone did. And within a year, he was not only collecting a Best Picture Oscar for it, he had redefined the sports movie forever. In fact, created a whole new subgenre of American cinema. For decades since we've had Rocky does Karate, Rocky as a high school wrestler, Rocky gets in for one play at Notre Dame, Rocky as a steel town girl who welds by day and dances erotically at night, Rocky plays the Soviet Olympic hockey team, Rocky as a white rapper. Just to name a few. 

So yes, one could say I've got a strong emotional bond to these movies. To the point where, as theaters were only just beginning to open back up, I went with some like-minded buddies including Barstool legend Uncle Buck to see Stallone's remake of Rocky IV, of all damned things:

And yet, I was today years old when I realized how little of Stallone's own creation he actually owns:

Deadline - Actor Sylvester Stallone, right, lands a mock punch on the chin of producer Irwin Winkler during Walk of Fame ceremony for Winkler in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles Friday, April 28, 2000. Winkler produced the film "Rocky," starring Stallone. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) AP

Sylvester Stallone was the writer and star of the hit 1976 film Rocky and its 5 sequels, but he doesn’t own any of the rights to his creation. The action star is calling for producer Irwin Winkler to give him “what’s left of [his] rights back,” a “painful subject” Stallone says “eats at my soul.”

“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 … 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… Keep Punching.” 

The rights to the Rocky franchise have long been a point of contention for Stallone, who was paid approximately $75k (for the screenplay and his acting fees) plus 10 net points which earned him at least $2.5 million for the first film, according to his calculation shared with Variety.

He told the outlet he didn’t push the issue of ownership rights at the time because “there was a certain code of business conduct, maybe not as much now, but back then, that you don’t ruffle the feathers of the golden goose.”

He has broached the topic in the past but was told he was paid fairly.

Yeah, about what I was saying about Rocky being a great American story? It saddens me to say it's even more true after hearing this. I'm as capitalist as they come, but have to admit this is one of the true downsides of the system. Where the most powerful people aren't the artists and creators, but the ones who control the access. The ones who get to choose who gets their work put on public display. The people who sit in board rooms picking winners and losers.

Sure, you can take the easy road and say there's no need to weep for Stallone because he's a rich, pampered Hollywood star with all the privileges thereof. But imagine if a great piece of pop culture existed only because it was dreamed up in your imagination, and you had to spend four decades watching someone else profit from your ideas, just because they had power over you when you were poor and desperate? Yes, he owes his success to the ones who gave him a shot when no one else would. But it's a twisted system when that arrangement has to be set in stone for all eternity. 

And that, tragically, is how the world has worked pretty much forever. Look at athletes from before the invention of free agency, where you had future Baseball Hall of Famers selling insurance in the offseason while team owners kept making millions. Old R&B singers were always getting shafted by record companies, like Little Richard seeing Disney use his songs in Donald Duck cartoons without him seeing a dime of it. Or take Rock 'n Roll, where John Fogarty got sued by his old producer for plagiarizing a song written by … John Fogarty. Because the producer owned the rights, not the person who actually created it. 

I get that there are bigger things to worry about. And hopefully the whole system has been flipped over in a world where YouTube creators, TikTok stars and podcast hosts can cut out the middle man and reach their audience directly. But when a visionary artist can't feel good about the very thing he created, and that fictional world of his invention has given you a lifetime of entertainment, the least you can do is appreciate said artist enough to admit this is wrong. Creed III is currently in production. And judging by its IMDB page, Stallone is not appearing in the film. Which is enough to get me to boycott it. I'm as pro-Rocky as a 1987 Soviet.