Yo Adrian! I DID IT! I Just Didn't Get Paid for It

My Take On the Sylvester Stallone/Irwin Winkler Situation

Ownership is CRUCIAL. If you don't own it, you can't control it nor do you control the revenue that comes from it. That's why you have to read every bit of that contract before you sign on the dotted line. Because if you're not careful, you could just be signing your life away.

Now, I know that sounds harsh but at the very least you could be signing your rights away.

And what are you without rights; You are foder!

A perfect example of this would be Rocky Balboa.

He made all that money fighting bums only to become one just because his brother-in-law signed a document giving the vutures access to whatever they wanted.

And speaking of Rocky Balboa, they've been playing those films as of late.

I was using the TV guide earlier when I saw that they've been having a "Rocky" marathon on all day. It seems that they air a "Rocky" marathon every 4th of July.

I believe they even aired the "Rocky" franchise on Thanksgiving a few years back.

I thought to myself that Sylvester Stallone must be making beaucoup bucks from those films.

Then I came across a People's Magazine article that was published on Yahoo a few days ago and it changed my thought pattern on that notion.

Here's the link to said article.

The first thing I thought about was that I had no clue that People Magazine was still in business.

You don't hear to much about that magazine company these days but it contained an interesting article about the whole "Rocky" situation.

The other thing was that Stallone claimed he had,

"zero ownership of the film¹." (Juneau)

That completely blew my mind because you can just imagine how often that movie's played and you know somebody has to be making major dividends off that series every time it airs.

I also didn't know that this man, Irwin Winkler, also owns the "Creed" franchise as well.

That leads me to ask this question to Stallone,

"Why in the world did you do the "Creed" movies in the first place?!"

If this guy really owns the "Rocky" series then why would you ever want to do a film that he has full ownership of.

That just doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

Then, the article mentions about how it,

"eats at his soul, because he wanted to leave something of Rocky for his children²." (Juneau)

Now I know he may not own Rocky but you would think that Sylvester Stallone would be financially stable enough, not only for himself and his family right now but for the future generations of his family.

I heard at one point that the actor was making a reported 20 million dollars per picture. With all the money he accumulated over the years, why couldn't he just go to Winkler and buy the rights or at least get a piece of it.

Also, according to boxer Chuck Wepner, Stallone ripped him off by taking his life experiences and putting them in the "Rocky" franchise and has never paid him a dime for it.

He was referring to the "Rocky III" movie in which Rocky battles wrestler Thunder Lips which was played by real-life professional wrestling superstar, Hulk Hogan.

Wepner claims that the scene was inspired by his wrestler vs. boxer match against the late Andre the Giant in the 1970's.

One thing about business is that it's pretty shady and it can get even shadier then that if you don't know what you're signing on that contract that they put in front of you.

You just may be missing out on "generational wealth" just to make a quick buck.

References

1. Juneau, Jen. Sylvester Stallone Criticizes 'Rocky' Producer Over Rights Dispute: Want to 'Leave Something' for My Kids, 2022, https://people.com/movies/sylvester-stallone-slams-rocky-producer-irwin-winkler-over-rights-dispute/
2. Juneau, Jen. Sylvester Stallone Criticizes 'Rocky' Producer Over Rights Dispute: Want to 'Leave Something' for My Kids, 2022, https://people.com/movies/sylvester-stallone-slams-rocky-producer-irwin-winkler-over-rights-dispute/