Rocky star Sylvester Stallone just reunited with the statue of his character in Philadelphia. The Rocky franchise began in 1976, with the original Best Picture-winning film following a down-and-out Philly-based boxer named Rocky Balboa (Stallone) training for a fight with the current champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). During the film’s iconic training montage, Rocky runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, striking a two-fisted pose at the top. This was immortalized in a statue that was originally created for the filming of the sequel Rocky III, which remains an iconic Philadelphia landmark, lying at the foot of those steps.
On his official Instagram account, Stallone just shared a new video revealing that he crashed the line to visit the Rocky Balboa statue when visiting Philadelphia recently with his family. He revealed that “I don’t get to visit Rocky very often, [and] when I do, it’s emotional.” Check out the post below:
Stallone’s Rocky Legacy Explained
Although Stallone will not be appearing in the upcoming spinoff sequel Creed III, he has been an integral part of the Rocky franchise from the very beginning, fearlessly returning to the character throughout the years. The original branch of the franchise initially ran through Rocky V in 1990, though it was resurrected twice, first in 2006 for Rocky Balboa, which was originally considered to be Stallone’s farewell to the character. However, he returned to reprise the role in the 2015 spin-off film Creed, which follows Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for the role, which he again reprised in 2018’s Creed II.
However, starring in the Rocky films is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Stallone’s involvement. The original Rocky was written by Stallone, which earned him simultaneous Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, and he went on to write every film in the franchise through Rocky Balboa. Although John G. Avildsen bookended the franchise by directing Rocky and Rocky V, Stallone also took on directorial duties for 1979’s Rocky II, 1982’s Rocky III, and 1985’s Rocky IV, as well as Rocky Balboa.
Stallone and Rocky have informed each other throughout the past 46 years. In addition to the character and his exploits on film following the star’s trajectory, Stallone’s career has been informed by the success of Rocky since the very beginning. Aside from the fact that it put him on the map of the Hollywood scene, his role in Rocky directly informed films that capitalize on his sports action hero status, like 2010’s The Expendables and 2013’s Grudge Match, the former of which was directed and co-written by Stallone himself. However, the Rocky model guided his career, allowing him to be a part of creating other iconic characters like Rambo in First Blood, which launched a similarly sprawling franchise.
