Sylvester Stallone has more to say about Rocky franchise in light of MGM developing a film spin-off centered on Ivan Drago.
Stallone, who wrote the screenplay for the 1976 Oscar-winning film. Rockyin which he played boxer Rocky Balboa, led Instagram on Saturday to criticize the planned film Dragon which is being written by Robert Lawton, as first reported this week by the envelope. Although Stallone didn’t directly name anyone in his latest post, his mention of a “94-year-old producer” is an apparent reference to Irwin Winkler, who is 91 years old and has a producing credit on every movie in the series. Rocky franchise, in addition to the subsequent Creed derivative movies.
“Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out… ONCE AGAIN THE PATHETIC 94 YEAR OLD PRODUCER and HIS SELFISH AND USELESS CHILDREN are once again picking up what is left of THE BONES of another wonderful character!!!” Stallone wrote about Dragon. “Seriously, what do weasels look like in the mirror?”
The star continued, “Sorry to the FANS, I APOLOGIZE. I never meant for ROCKY to be exploited FOR THIS GREED… #shameless #sad day #Parasite.”
Dragon is set to revisit Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren in 1985 rocky IV and later in 2018 Creed II. Lundgren had previously teased a possible spinoff movie. in a November 2021 interview with the hollywood reporter.
Stallone’s message follows his Instagram July 16 post which criticized Winkler by name, referring to him as “the notoriously talentless and parasitic producer of Rocky and Creed”. The publication also criticized Irwin’s son, David Winkler, who is credited as a producer on the Creed films, including the first film of 2015 in which he starred Michael B. Jordan and earned Stallone an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for reprising his role as Balboa.
In a follow-up post on July 17, Stallone wrote that he was upset about an ownership dispute related to the franchise. “I really like [to] recover at least a little of WHAT REMAINS of my RIGHTS, before giving it ONLY TO HIS CHILDREN. I think that would be a FAIR gesture,” Stallone wrote, directing his virulence at Irwin.
Both previous posts have since been deleted.
Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff are credited as the sole producers of the top five Rocky Movie (s. The 2006 revival of the franchise Rocky Balboa he credits six producers, including David Winkler and Irwin’s other son, Charles Winkler.
the Creed The films focus on Michael B. Jordan as the son of the late Apollo Creed, portrayed in the Rocky Carl Weathers movies. Stallone and Irwin Winkler are credited as producers on the Creed films, such as David and Charles, among others. Chartoff was a producer on the first Creed before his death in 2015.
Last month, Stallone said Meter who had “retired” from appearing on Creed III due to the story changing direction but he supported the movie. Creed IIIwhich will hit theaters on March 3, 2023, features Jordan as director and star.
The Rocky Balboa character originated with Stallone Rocky script in 1976, and her contract stipulated that she would play the title role. Stallone said Variety in 2019 that it had “zero ownership of Rocky” and that he was “furious” about this.
“Our commitment to him was that he could star in it,” Winkler recalled to the hollywood reporter in 1983 about making the first Rocky with Chartoff. “We convinced United Artists to give us the money to do it. They only gave us a limited amount of money and said we had to put our houses up as collateral. We really took a mortgage to make sure we delivered it on time, and we did.”
Representatives for Irwin Winkler and Stallone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.