'Rocky' star, writer Sylvester Stallone squares off over franchise stake
Sylvester Stallone is pulling no punches on his decades-long resentment over having zero ownership in the blockbuster "Rocky" franchise.
The 73-year-old Stallone is breaking his silence in a new interview with Variety, saying he was cut out of an equity stake in the lucrative series.
The rags-to-riches story about a scrappy boxer from Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa was reportedly written in just days by Stallone.
The iconic boxing drama was made with a reported $1 million budget and went on to rake in a staggering $225 million worldwide.
(Original Caption) Sylvester Stallone (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
While the film turned Stallone into a movie star, he tells Variety he only made about $2.5 million dollars, despite it becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976.
“It was shocking that it never came to be, but I was told, ‘Hey, you got paid, so what are you complaining about?’ I was furious.”
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The film earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Screenplay and Best Actor.
US actor Sylvester Stallone (C) poses with his wife Jennifer Flavin (R) and daughter Sistine as they arrive for the screening of the film "The Specials (Hors Normes)" at the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May
Stallone starred in all seven sequels and went on to appear in more than 70 films. Today, he is worth an estimated $400 million.
Stallone's latest movie, "Rambo V," is scheduled for release in September.