marble-mouthed meat pulverizer. An exec at MGM - which owns the 24-year-old
franchise - says that the studio is "excited" to see
the pages (despite Rocky V's relatively weak $41 million
box office). But the star
refuses to show MGM anything until it boosts its proposed $10
million budget. "We
need at least $20 or $22 million," says Stallone. "I mean, you gotta pay (Rocky's
wife) TALIA SHIRE something."
So what's in those closely guarded pages? The movie - which STALLONE imagines
as a grittier, "Raging Bull"-type epic - finds
the boxer, aging and broke, reentering the ring to raise money
for a Christian youth association. "I've tried to emulate a few things in reality,
such as the GEORGE FOREMAN story," says STALLONE, noting,
that like the real-life boxer who retired at 48 after a conteroversial
'97 defeat, Rocky is "probably going to lose."
The 53-year-old actor wants to shoot VI
pronto. "It's already
been ten years since "Rocky V," says STALLONE.
"What are you going
to do, wait 20 years?
It's now or never."
Oh, but think of the dialogue: "Yo, I've fallen and I can't
get up."
- William Keck
Let's hope that SLY and MGM reach an agreement
and the movie is made.
Rocky needs a better send-off than "V" provided.
- Craig Zablo |