Sylvester Stallone admits the ownership rights for the 'Rocky' franchise are a "painful subject".
Sylvester Stallone has slammed the producer on social media
The 76-year-old actor created and starred in the money-spinning film franchise - but he's now taken to social media to hit out at producer Irwin Winkler, accusing him of withholding the ownership rights to the movies.
Stallone - who played the titular role of Rocky Balboa in the films - wrote on Instagram: "After Irwin controlling ‘Rocky’ for over 47 years, and now ‘Creed’, I really would like to have at least a little [of] 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? (sic)"
The Hollywood icon achieved huge success with the 'Rocky' movies and he even reprised the role in 2015 to launch the 'Creed' franchise, which also stars Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson.
However, Stallone previously confessed to being "furious" about the ownership issue.
He explained: "I have zero ownership of 'Rocky'. Every word, every syllable, every grammatical error was all my fault. It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’ I was furious."
Stallone admitted to being a victim of his own naivety about the movie business and how it works.
The actor explained that he didn't want to upset any influential figures in the industry, as he was still trying to establish himself at the time.
He said: "You don’t want to ruffle the feathers of the golden goose."
Despite this, an industry insider previously questioned Stallone's complaints.
The source said: "He made money from every angle, and still does, so I don’t know what he’s complaining about."