Sylvester Stallone Doesn't Think He'll Ever Get The Rights To Rocky Back

"Rocky" has become so synonymous with the American pop culture lexicon that you nearly forget about the journey it took getting to the screen to begin with. The classic underdog story was not only about a small-time Philadelphia boxer going the distance with the heavyweight champion, but a tale about how Sylvester Stallone turned himself into a household name. While writing "Rocky," he was living in a terrible apartment and could barely afford food. Stallone even had to sell his dog Butkus just to survive, before buying him back once he sold the screenplay.

The boxing drama went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which carved out a name for the titular fighter as well as Stallone. In many ways, "Rocky" was his baby. The "First Blood" star ended up making a good chunk of change on the back end, but it may surprise you to learn that, according to Stallone he doesn't hold any percentage of the series' rights (via The Hollywood Reporter):

"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. 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."

It's the kind of situation that's put Stallone in an interesting spot, especially since he has zero involvement in the upcoming "Creed III." He made his thoughts known, however, through a particularly scathing Instagram post last year.

In a since-deleted Instagram post from July 2022, Sylvester Stallone called out "Rocky" producer Irwin Winkler after word spread of a possible "Drago" spin-off in the works. Rather than inquiring about its legitimacy in private, the "Rambo" star took to social media to publicly lambast Winkler as "remarkably untalented and parasitical." In case his words weren't pointed enough, one of the images he used in the post showed the producer sucking the Italian Stallion dry like a vampire.

It's the kind of insane thing you expect to see in the thumbnails of those grifter YouTube videos, so it came as a shock to see it come from Stallone himself. Apparently, MGM had wanted to do another "Rocky" film, but if that was to ever happen, Stallone wanted to get in on the deal first. "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?,'" says Stallone (via The Hollywood Reporter).

According to a report from The Wrap, Stallone had tried reaching out to MGM after the "Rocky" sequels had only been bringing in more money for decades, to no avail. He claims that they told him that he "got paid" and that was the end of the conversation. He didn't want restitution, so much as an equal stake moving forward. It comes as a surprise that Stallone doesn't hold an ownership stake in a series that wouldn't have existed without him, especially with the "Creed" revival going strong.

Thankfully, after the Instagram blowup, Stallone and Dolph Lundgren, who plays the hulking Russian baddie in "Rocky IV" and "Creed II," were able to patch things up about what went down with the "Drago" spin-off rumors (via The Hollywood Reporter):

"Yeah, we did. [...] 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. I'm not an executive producer on the Creed movies. [Director] Ryan Coogler is. [Star] Michael B. Jordan is. [Winkler and Chartoff's] children are. Not mine. I'm the only one left out."

According to his own Instagram post last year, Lundgren was under the impression that if a project like that were to get off the ground — which it seemed like it wasn't — that Stallone was already a producer. But with that cleared up comes the drama surrounding his lack of involvement in the "Creed" spin-offs. "I don't want to give anything away, but it's a whole different point of view than Rocky's point of view," says Stallone (via The Independent).

Rights issues aside, it appears that Stallone seems to be having a less heated disagreement with "Creed" star Michael B. Jordan about his lack of an executive producer credit, and more of a creative difference about where the series should go. He claims he would return if there was a place for him in the story. Stallone is rich either way, but I hope he's able to sort this decades-spanning mess out. 

"Rocky" is currently streaming on Paramount+ and Netflix.