Sylvester Stallone has more to say about the Rocky franchise in light of MGM’s development of a spinoff film centered around Ivan Drago. 

Stallone – who wrote the screenplay for the 1976 Oscar-winning Rocky, in which he starred as boxer Rocky Balboa – took to Instagram on Saturday to criticize the planned Drago movie being written by Robert Lawton, as first reported this week by the Wrap.  While Stallone didn’t directly name anyone in his latest post, his reference to a “94-year-old producer” is an obvious reference to Irwin Winkler, who is 91 and has a producing credit on all the films in the Rocky franchise.  except for the subsequent Creed spinoff films. 

“Another Heartbreaker… I just found out… Once again the PASSIVE 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS SELFISH USELESS KIDS once again pick up what’s left OF the BONES of another great character!!!”  Stallone wrote for Drago.  “Seriously, how do you weasels look in the mirror?”

The star continued, “I’m sorry to the fans, I APOLOGIZE to the fans I never meant for ROCKY to take advantage of THIS GREED.. # no shame #sad day #Parasite.”

Drago is set to revisit Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren in 1985’s Rocky IV and later in 2018’s Creed II. Lundgren previously teased a potential spinoff film in a November 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Stallone’s message follows his Instagram post from July 16 in which he criticized Winkler by name, referring to him as “the extremely shifty and parasitic producer of Rocky and Creed.”  The post also criticized Irwin’s son David Winkler, who is credited as a producer on the Creed films, including the 2015 debut starring Michael B. Jordan and earned Stallone an Academy Award nomination for reprising the role. of as Balboa. 

In a subsequent post on July 17, Stallone wrote that he was upset about an ownership dispute related to the franchise.  “I really would like to [to] to have even a little of WHAT’S LEFT OF MY RIGHTS back, before giving it ONLY to YOUR KIDS – I believe that would be a JUST gesture,” Stallone wrote, directing his vitriol at Irwin. 

Both of these previous posts have since been deleted. 

Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff are credited as sole producers on the first five Rocky films.  The 2006 franchise revival Rocky Balboa credits six producers, including David Winkler and Irwin’s other son, Charles Winkler.

The Creed films focus on Michael B. Jordan as the son of the late Apollo Creed, portrayed in the Rocky films by Carl Weathers.  Stallone and Irwin Winkler are both credited as producers on the Creed films, as are David and Charles, among others.  Chartoff was a producer on the first Creed before his death in 2015.

Last month, Stallone told Metro that he had been “declined” to appear in Creed III because of the story’s change in direction, but that he supported the film.  Creed III, which hits theaters on March 3, 2023, counts Jordan as both director and star. 

The character of Rocky Balboa was derived from Stallone’s 1976 Rocky script, and his contract stipulated that he would play the title role.  Stallone told Variety in 2019 that he had “zero ownership of Rocky” and was “furious” about it.

“Our commitment to him was that he could star in it,” Winkler recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in 1983 about making the first Rocky with Chartoff.  “We convinced United Artists to give us the money to make it happen.  They only gave us a limited amount of money and said we had to put up our houses as collateral.  We really pushed ourselves to make sure we got it on time and we did.”

Reps for Irwin Winkler and Stallone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.