Despite Ugly Feud With “Horrible” Producers, Sylvester Stallone Willing to Do ‘Creed 4’ With Michael B. Jordan on One Condition

Richfield Coliseum, Ohio, created history, albeit in a different way. On 24th March 1975, it hosted Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. It was Ali’s first title defense after snatching it from George Foreman at the famous Rumble in The Jungle fight. Unbeknownst to everyone who saw the match was an impressionable, twenty-nine-year-old, not-so-fortunate actor of Italian origin. Back home, Sylvester Stallone took three days to complete the script of Rocky. The story of an underdog Rocky Balboa, ostensibly based on Wepner, taking on an established champion Apollo Creed, alluding to Ali.

Interested in selling his work, Sly had only one condition over the transaction. He would be the one to play the role of Rocky Balboa. Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff harbored reservations but eventually relented to work with Stallone in the leading role. The agreement, inked in 1976, brought forth one of most successful franchises in Hollywood. However, it was a matter of time before crucial assertions about ownership rights reached the eyes and ears of the public inevitably.

One of the leading radio broadcasters, SiriusXM, had invited Sylvester Stallone, now seventy-six, for an interview at their studio. Radio talk show host Jessica Shaw spoke to Sly, covering quite a few topics. Now available on YouTube, more than half-a-million have viewed the interview.

Sylvester Stallone, unhappy with the ownership rights

Approaching the contentious issue of the ownership right of the Rocky and Creed franchise, Jessica asked, “You brought up the with Irwin Winkler and how he has has he has the rights to Rocky which is unfathomable.”

To which Stallone responded to have never come across such an instance. Displaying an understanding with the actor, Shaw concurred that had she been in his place, she probably would have ended up in ‘therapy for rest of my life.’ First, however, to satisfy her curiosity, she wanted to know if Stallone had made peace with the entire situation.

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Stallone answered, “You know you can’t make peace I mean let’s be realistic here you can’t make peace when someone has been so so nefarious in my in my opinion…”

He highlighted that all associated with the movie franchise prospered. But it should have happened, keeping all the other factors on an equal footing. That way, one individual didn’t gain at the cost of others. Sly cited legendary director Steven Spielberg’s example. He said that the producers own all the rights. Hence, he has to go down on his knees and seek permission for any new addition in the sequels or a prequel.

He asserted that his ruing had nothing to do with money-making. It’s just that he wanted his legacy or a part of it left with his children.

Lastly, Jessica asked whether Stallone considered disassociating himself from Creed’s upcoming edition. And pat came Sly’s reply, “No and not not that like I could be joining a nice guy the studio is wonderful but it’s just the it’s been such a real rough emotional ride that’s all yeah…I’ll do Creed 4 with him as long as the other fellow is not involved right.”

The other side of the coin

Stallone developed a profound dissatisfaction in recent years with the control issues over his successful film series. For example, he claims to be denied an equity part in the ‘Rocky’ franchise. It is despite the fact that Sly received first-dollar gross, i.e., the receipt of the film’s profits from the day it was released, in the early ‘Rocky’ sequels. Additionally, he received a net income on the movie that raked in roughly $225 million. The film altogether took only $1 million to make, though.

Variety magazine reported the production house’s surprise at Stallone’s lamentations. From his roles as star and producer on both “Creed” and its 2018 sequel, Stallone reportedly earned more than $10 million.

Stallone received an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay during the 49th Annual Academy Awards function. In addition, the movie finally won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.

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