Sylvester Stallone: 'I want my rights back'

Sylvester Stallone criticized film producer Irwin Winkler for claiming the copyright of the films 'Rocky' and 'Creed'.

'A very flattering portrayal of Rocky and Creed producer Irwin Winkler... After Irwin had control of Rocky for 47 years and now Creed, I would really like to have what's left of my rights back before he only passes it on to his children,' the actor wrote.'I believe it would be a fair move,' concluded Sylvester Stallone.

Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff were signed on as producers for the first five installments of the Rocky series. The situation changed in 2006's Rocky Balboa, when Irwin added his sons, David and Charles, to that list. Stallone wrote, directed and starred in that movie. In addition, Stallone, along with these four, is the co-producer of all the Apollo Creed films.

'Hey, we paid you, why are you complaining now?'

In an interview with The Variety magazine in 2019, Stallone complained that he did not own any copyright on Rocky: 'Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error, everything was my responsibility. It shocked me when they said, 'Hey , we paid you, why are you complaining now?' I was furious.'

He added that after the success of Rocky II and Rocky III, he told them he wanted a share of the royalties since he 'invented Rocky,' but that never happened. 'Doesn't it bother you that I wrote every word, designed the choreography, that I was loyal to you, that I promoted the films, and directed them and that I don't have a single percent of the copyright to leave to my children? ' Stallone said. ' They answered me 'We paid you.' And that was the end of the conversation,' he recounted in the same interview. We will see how this situation is going to be resolved or maybe it will not.