Sylvester Stallone has shared some of the challenges behind making Rocky. Stallone was not only the star of the 1976 film, but also wrote the script that follows Rocky Balboa’s underdog story. Rocky‘s critical and commercial success led to numerous sequels and the Creed films in which Michael B. Jordan plays the son of Apollo Creed. Forty-seven years since its release, Rocky remains one of the most beloved sports movies of all time, and the franchise remains prominent following the release of Creed III earlier in 2023.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Stallone provided insight into the early stages of writing Rocky while working as a movie theater usher. He “just wrote about what I knew. I was writing about this little kind of mentally challenged guy who happened to have a lot of heart.” Stallone further explained why he wanted to tell Rocky’s story, along with the challenges of getting the movie made in the first place. Read the rest of his comments below:
I wanted to write a movie about a guy who says ‘I’m not great at all, never will be. I fight great fighters. But I just want the opportunity to go the distance.’
Nobody wanted to make it. It was my best writing too.
Why Rocky Remains An Iconic Movie
While Rocky is technically a sports movie, it is not the boxing that allows it to stand the test of time. Rocky‘s success is rooted in telling the ultimate underdog story. There is timeless appeal in the rag to riches tale of an ordinary man who works relentlessly to achieve his dreams, despite the doubts of others. Rocky’s journey is arguably more memorable than the movie’s final boxing match, with Rocky‘s most iconic scene occurring during his training as he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, accompanied by the “Gonna Fly Now” theme.
Many sports movies are about the main team or individual winning the competition at the end of the movie. Rocky isn’t about the outcome of his match with Apollo Creed – it is about his personal journey of working to defy the odds against him, along with the love he and Adrian Pennino come to feel for each other. While some things about Rocky haven’t aged well, including aspects of Rocky’s relationship with Adrian, their relationship still provides much of the movie’s heart and gives weight to the ending.
Each sequel in the franchise attempts to capture the magic of the original movie, with varying degrees of success. The Creed movies have been particularly well-received for building off the original movies while telling a new and compelling underdog story. Not many sports movies lead to franchises that are this enduring and that continue to be praised and enjoyed by audiences around the world. Despite the challenges Stallone faced early on, Rocky became an influential and celebrated film, with a franchise that is still going strong.
