Sylvester Stallone is fighting for ‘Rocky’ ownership rights: ‘This is a painful subject’

Sylvester Stallone is currently fighting for his ownership rights from the successful Rocky franchise, revealing that he wants to share them with his children, asking producer Irwin Winkler to give him his rights back, as he conceived, wrote and starred in the fan-favorite production, which became a major box office hit with five sequels and the ‘Creed’ spin-off.

The Hollywood star explained that Winkler has controlled Rocky and now Creed “for over 47 years,” and he would like to “have at least a little WHAT’s LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN.”

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Stallone continued, “I believe That would be a FAIR gesture from this 93 year old gentleman,” declaring that “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.”

The actor previously sold the rights to his Rocky screenplay to producers Winkler and the late Robert Chartoff, so he has no ownership rights despite having created the character and storyline. However, this is not the first time he has petitioned for his rights, previously revealing that he confronted the studio before Rocky IV was released in 1985.

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“I really respected and LOVED his wonderful partner ROBERT CHARTOFF Who had real talent and SOUL, but unfortunately passed away much too soon,” Stallone wrote on Instagram. “If it wasn’t for Winkler there would’ve been at least another three Rocky’s , that would’ve been wonderful …”