Sylvester Stallone has been the man of the Hollywood industry for quite some time during his prime, and with countless blockbusters under his belt, Stallone will boast hundreds of millions of dollars in net worth by the time his career comes to a close. While the Rambo actor was known to be quite the playboy, his immense fame and respect in the franchise overshadows his trait of being a ladies’ man.
Sylvester Stallone has had one of the most fruitful acting careers in the franchise and was also regarded as one of the best actors of our generation. While he was constantly in a blockbuster battle with Arnold Schwarzenegger, he was upset with his multi-billion-dollar franchise production, Rocky which earned him almost everything he is today. The primary reason was that he could bag less than $50 million from the franchise that earned $2 billion.
Sylvester Stallone’s Bad Deal With United Artists
Sylvester Stallone came to prominence with quite some movies, primarily the Rocky franchise which he built from the ground up. Starting from the idea to the script for the movie to the lead role, Stallone did it all and all that was left for it was the franchising of the script which was later accepted by United Artists. Though United Artists initially wanted to cast a bigger star than Sylvester Stallone at that time, someone like James Cann who was already an established celebrity in the industry, they had to settle for Stallone as it was his script.
Before he starred in the first Rocky movie, Sylvester Stallone only had a mere $100 to his name and took on the deal that United Artists provided him with, though later on, it turned out to be a crucial loss in his career. After Rocky and its sequels were a complete success, the franchise earned up to a staggering $2 billion, and the show star, Stallone was only paid in tens of millions instead of hundreds. Why you ask, well this was because of the bad deal that he signed with United Artists where he gave up the licensing and franchising rights in return for a small percentage of the profits from the movie.
Sylvester Stallone Was Upset With His Premature Decision
Sylvester Stallone’s most prized creation is undoubtedly the Rocky franchise and he was not compensated properly for the immense success and fame he brought to the franchise. In an interview, Stallone shared that he was quite upset that he had no control over the franchise, the one he started from the ground up, and was being treated as a mere employee in the movies. He shared,
“I have zero ownership of Rocky […] I was furious.”
The Rocky franchise has released a total of fives movies and with Sylvester Stallone starring as the lead, and with the movies being complete blockbusters and earning over $2 billion at the box office after its release worldwide, Stallone only bagged a total of less than $50 million. The franchise has also been awarded multiple times with the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Golden Screen Awards, and many others.
Rocky is available for streaming on Prime Video.
Source: The Things
