Sylvester Stallone is Furious About Being Denied Ownership of the ROCKY Franchise, But He Is Developing a New Film and TV Series

I know this seems like kind of like an “Oh poor me!” story, and it is. However, it is also a cover your butt kind of story. Sylvester Stallone is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood today. Unfortunately, there was a time that all of his success had fallen by the wayside and his agency dropped him. That has to be a low point for any actor/writer/director and he also had to fade into obscurity knowing that he had absolutely no ownership in his one major, academy award winning success Rocky.

In an interview with Variety, Sly talks about his journey from success to stagnation to coming back to the top and the future. I have chosen a couple of segments from the interview, click on the link above if you are interested in the whole thing.

Starting off, let’s get into the meat of the article which is a cautionary tale for all of you writers out there. We all want a piece of the Hollywood dream, but when starting out you may be put in the same position as Sly and you have to be ready to deal with it. Here is how it went:

You said you’re upset that you didn’t get any ownership of the “Rocky” franchise.
I mentioned it a few times because after “Rocky II” came out and made a ton of money and then “Rocky III” hit and made more than all of them, I said I’d like to have some ownership since I invented it. And that never happened. So I have zero ownership of “Rocky.”

So you asked for a stake and were refused? Who told you no?
My attorney [Jake Bloom].

What about your CAA agent at the time, Ron Meyer?
Ronnie I never mentioned it to.

Why not?
Because I was told it just doesn’t happen, no one has it, and look, they’re giving you more money on “Rocky III.” They took their chances, and you’re not entitled to it.

Jake said that?
Yeah, in a roundabout way: “You’re not going to get any more.” He said, “No one gets it,” and I said, “I get it but, well, this is kind of an exception to the rule.” To tell you the truth, I was so preoccupied with other things I didn’t belabor it. [Bloom declined to comment for this story.]

So you never really pushed the matter?
No, I never really pushed it, and by the time we got around to “Rocky Balboa” I was in a pretty weak position to say anything. I was in a slump, and it was pretty intense. There was a great sense of finality about it. I couldn’t get arrested. I was let go by my agency. Dropped — fired basically.

I’m still having a tough time understanding why you didn’t insist on getting a piece of the very thing you created.
I think there was a certain code of business conduct, maybe not as much now, but back then, that you don’t ruffle the feathers of the golden goose. The studio is the power, the agency relies upon them, and the attorneys are the go-betweens. When I finally confronted them [just before “Rocky IV” in 1985], I said, “Does it bother you guys that I’ve written every word, I’ve choreographed it, I’ve been loyal to you, I’ve promoted it, directed it and I don’t have 1% that I could leave for my children?” And the quote was, “You got paid.” And that was the end of the conversation.

What about all the licensing and merchandising revenue MGM made off “Rocky” using your likeness?
They had 100 different licenses, and they said this is all going to be put into the pot, which would have meant hundreds of millions of dollars over 45 years. I’ve never seen that pot.

How upset were you that you never got any take of the “Rocky” windfall?
I was very angry. I was furious. “Rocky” is on TV around the world more than any other Oscar-winning film other than “Godfather.” You have six of them, and now you have “Creed” and “Creed II.”

I love the system — don’t get me wrong. My kids and their kids, they’re taken care of because of the system. But there are dark little segues and people that have put it to ya. They say the definition of Hollywood is someone who stabs you in the chest. They don’t even hide it.

We all hear about the politics in the industry, but we rarely get to hear specifically how someone was screwed by the upper echelon of Hollywood.

Continuing with the interview, they touch on his fall from grace and Sly’s struggle to get back on top, and his Instagram account. Then they throw in this little hint to where the Rocky story is going in the future.

I heard that you want to do a “Rocky” prequel for TV and Winkler has other ideas. Any truth to that?
There was some conflict there, yes. He felt in his mind that “Rocky” was primarily a feature film, and he didn’t see it as being translated for cable, so there was a big bone of contention.

Any possibility that “Rocky” would reappear on the big screen someday with you in the role?
There’s a good chance that “Rocky” may ride again.

What’s the basic premise?
Rocky meets a young, angry person who got stuck in this country when he comes to see his sister. He takes him into his life, and unbelievable adventures begin, and they wind up south of the border. It’s very, very timely.

So the story would touch on the immigration issues in the U.S. that are headlining the news today?
Yes. Do you tell someone that you just met in the street who’s struggling and homeless to get out, or do you take him in? If you take him in, you’re in trouble.

How close do you think this is to happening?
They want to go tomorrow.

Do you see Rocky as your legacy?
It is. It’s like my brother. It’s the only voice that I can say what I want without being ridiculed, or being silly, or being precious or sentimental, because he is that way. Rocky can’t keep quiet. He just talks and talks and spills his guts. And as a writer, if you do that quite often, it looks as though you’re just lost in the world of exposition. But he’s actually saying something, and because of the way he speaks and his naiveté and gentle quality, you listen. Rocky can say things that my other characters can never say.

Are you saying that you are Rocky?
There is some resemblance.

There are so many morals to this story that we can draw from. No matter how hard they try to keep you down, only you can let them. Dude won Academy awards and was still fired from his agency. So if you are lucky enough to make it into Hollywood, make sure lay claim to everything that is yours because you never know when your time will be up.