Sylvester Stallone Goes 'Rambo' Over 'Rocky' Spinoff

Sylvester Stallone, or Sly Stallone as he's known to his fans, is not the kind of man to let a slight slide. So when the producers of the "Rocky" series of movies, and also of the "Creed" franchise (starring Michael B. Jordan), planned a "Drago" spinoff with Dolph Lundgren, Stallone was not a happy man. In fact, he near turned "Rambo" on Instagram.

His idea of a faceoff may not be fisticuffs anymore as he took to Instagram to call the producers and his children, "bloodsuckers" but Sly Stallone sure knows to hit it where it hurts!

Most fans know of how down and out Sylvester Stallone was as he wrote "Rocky", down to his last few dollars with rent to pay, and a pregnant wife. Stallone even had to sell his dog, before the script was accepted and went on to become not just a movie, but a very successful franchise.

Stallone has been vocal about his ongoing fight for the rights to the character and story that he created, revealing to Variety in 2019 that he has zero ownership of the franchise. Stallone wants to leave the "Rocky" legacy for his children and earlier this month, he called out producer Irwin Winkler and his sons, Charles and David, in a since-deleted post that featured the 91-year-olds' head on a snake's body.  Stallone wrote: "I really would like to have at least a little WHAT's LEFT of my RIGHTS back, before passing it on to ONLY YOUR CHILDREN."

The 1976-released "Rocky" earned Stallone Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, for both Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. Later, the movie also won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing and has since ballooned into five direct sequels, from 1979 to 2006, as well as three "Creed" spinoff movies.

And now with the news of a "Drago" spinoff featuring Dolph Lundgren's Ivan Drago character, Sly aka. Rocky Balboa is going Rambo on Instagram.

In two since-deleted posts, Sly wrote, "Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out…ONCE AGAIN, this PATHETIC 94-year-old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC USELESS VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David, are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me."

While he edited the posts a couple of times, one version ended with an apology to the fans, "I APOLOGIZE to the FANS, I never wanted ROCKY characters to be exploited by these parasites."

Later, in another post, Stallone added, "Throughout history so many artists in every industry, recording, painting writing, you name it have been destroyed by these bloodsuckers Who have destroyed so many families, lining their pockets with other people! DOLPH, why? Not a phone call? #parasite producers #exploited artists victim."

He used a photoshopped picture of Winkler sucking the blood out of the "victim", Rocky.

Stallone received tremendous fan support on his posts, with many claiming there was no Rocky with Stallone, but given that the posts have been deleted, Stallone might have jumped the gun.

That said; fans were clear, if "Drago" did not have Stallone's blessing and involvement, they would not be watching it, period. Some even said Sly should invite the Winklers to the ring for a bout!

While fans were with Rocky, and muttering dire threats toward Drago, Dolph took to his Instagram to clear the air, writing, "Just to set the record straight regarding a possible Drago spinoff. There’s no approved script, no deals in place, and no director and I was personally under the impression that my friend Sly Stallone was involved as a producer or even as an actor. There was a press leak last week which was unfortunate. In touch with Mr. Balboa - just so all the fans can relax…There ya go. ?"

Given Stallone's post, which showed him being stabbed in the back, clearly, sentiments were running hot.

Fans showed their support to Lundgren's post, happy to see that Sly was not being ignored, with comments like:

"Good to hear. I think it’d be hugely disrespectful of the filmmakers if Sly Stallone wasn’t involved, consulted, or a part of the production. Thanks for the clarification."

"Sly needs to have involvement, no questions asked. Would love to see you two back at it in the franchise but not without Sly. Respect to you both!"

"Forget social media dude. Just phone the guy direct. The more it's on here the worse it will become."

For now, there has been no further statement from Sly.