In a since-deleted Instagram post from July 2022, Sylvester Stallone called out “Rocky” producer Irwin Winkler after word spread of a possible “Drago” spin-off in the works. Rather than inquiring about its legitimacy in private, the “Rambo” star took to social media to publicly lambast Winkler as “remarkably untalented and parasitical.” In case his words weren’t pointed enough, one of the images he used in the post showed the producer sucking the Italian Stallion dry like a vampire.
It’s the kind of insane thing you expect to see in the thumbnails of those grifter YouTube videos, so it came as a shock to see it come from Stallone himself. Apparently, MGM had wanted to do another “Rocky” film, but if that was to ever happen, Stallone wanted to get in on the deal first. “I was willing to do it. But I said, ‘After 45 years, can we change the playing field a little bit? Level it out? Can’t I get a piece of what I created all these years ago?,'” says Stallone (via The Hollywood Reporter).
According to a report from The Wrap, Stallone had tried reaching out to MGM after the “Rocky” sequels had only been bringing in more money for decades, to no avail. He claims that they told him that he “got paid” and that was the end of the conversation. He didn’t want restitution, so much as an equal stake moving forward. It comes as a surprise that Stallone doesn’t hold an ownership stake in a series that wouldn’t have existed without him, especially with the “Creed” revival going strong.