Category: Celebs

Stallone: #1 Big Deal

Craig / / 2000, Celebs

The Spring 2000 issue (#540) of Entertainment Weekly contains two caracatures and tidbits about SLY. The following is the second item.

(Artwork removed at the request of representatives of Roberto Parada)

DANIEL FIERMAN in an article titled “BIG DEALS” (with an illustration by ROBERTO PARADA), gives a “rundown of some significant deals that earned creative types a bigger slice of the pie.”

The #1 “big deal” is:
SYLVESTER STALLONE
* The Date: August 1995
* The Deal: One week after RON MEYER leaves the Creative Artists Agency to become president of MCA – then the parent company of Universal Pictures – he signs former client SYLVESTER STALLONE to a first-look, three picture deal worth $60 million. The pact would make the international star the second confirmed member of the $20 million club (after JIM CARREY), marking his highest potential per-picture paycheck to date, despite the recent box office disappointment of the $34.7 million grossing Judge Dredd.
* The Aftermath: Not pretty. After flirting with a long list of projects, the actor completed no pictures and received no payment from the deal, which expired in February 2000.

What the article doesn’t emphasize is that SLY was the first actor to be signed to a three picture deal for $20 million per picture. JIM CARREY‘S deal was for one movie!

– Craig Zablo
May 20, 2000

Sly and Mickey Rourke

Craig / / 2000, Celebs, Get Carter

The May 23, 2000 issue of STAR contains an item in the StarPeople section:

SYLVESTER STALLONE claims he destroyed his little black book when he married JENNIFER FLAVIN, but that doesn’t stop him from playing matchmaker for his new pal MICKEY ROURKE. The guys became fast friends as co-stars in the upcoming remake of “Get Carter.” Mickey still carries a torch for his ex-wife, CARRE OTIS, but she wants nothing to do with him. SLY feels so sorry for the guy, he’s been encouraging Mickey to get back in the dating game. He’s even asked Jennifer to fix Mickey up with some of her model friends.

“Get Carter” could be a comeback film for Mickey Rourke.
– Craig Zablo
[May 17, 2000]

First Look: Rocky Matchbox

Craig / / 2000, Celebs, Rocky

Way back on January 15, 2000, we announced that Rocky would be given the star treatment with a special edition Matchbox car accompanied by a “big head” figurine. StalloneZone is happy to provide a preview of some of the figures that will appear in the Matchbox Star Cars series. Along with Rocky Balboa and Camero, collectors will also find The Mask and Squad Car, Gilligan and the S.S. Minnow, Fonzie and his Motorcycle, and more. A firm release date has not been set, so keep your eyes peeled!

– Craig Zablo

Sly in FHM

Craig / / 2000, Celebs, Driven, Rocky

DRIVEN 4/27

A hotshot rookie driver hits a slump and realizes he needs the help of a grizzled old vetern who, incidentally, looks a lot like Rocky Balboa.

With SLYVESTER STALLONE, BURT REYNOLDS, KIP PARDUE and GINA GERSHON

Go speed racer In a feat that never ceases to amaze, screenwriter STALLONE strung together enough words to pen an entire script. At least you can count on director RENNY HARLIN [“CLIFFHANGER’] to make stellar racing scenes.
Get this: While filming, HARLINE was planning the DVD, which will let the viewer watch the races from various angles: high above, on the side or in the driver’s seat.

5 THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ROCKY

1 SYLVESTER STALLONE wrote his first draft of the script in three frenzied days. That version ended with Rocky throwing the fight.

2 Even though he had only $105 in the bank, STALLONE originally turned down offers of as much as $350,000 for the script from producers who wouldn’t let him play Rocky.

3 To get the green light from the studio, the producers had to agree to keep their budget below $1 million and agree to cover any extra charges out of their own pockets. Both producers ended up mortgaging their house.

4 When production moved from LA to Philadelphia, STALLONE could only afford to travel by train. Accompanying him on the 3-day ride was his dog Butkus, who appears in the film and who had putrid gas throughout the trip. In Arizona, SLY literally picked up the pooch and squeezed him, but the dog refused to empty its bowels until they got to Philadelphia and SLY‘s hotel carpet.

5 The famous shot of Rocky celebrating at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps was originally filmed as a tight shot on Rocky with a zoom out. Later, the director decided he wanted to start wide and zoom in. In the film, the footage is actually playing backward.

Thanks to Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes! – Craig Zablo

Sly Attends Irwin Winkler Ceremony

Craig / / 2000, Celebs, Rocky

Actor Sylvester Stallone, right, lands a mock punch on the chin of producer Irwin Winkler during Walk of Fame ceremony for Winkler in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles Friday, April 28, 2000. Winkler produced the film “Rocky,” starring Stallone.  (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Sylvester Stallone, right, and Carl Weathers, left, pose with producer Irwin Winkler at the Walk of Fame ceremony for Winkler in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles Friday, April 28, 2000. Stallone and Weathers were opponents in the original “Rocky” film,  produced by Winkler. 
(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN

Craig / / 2000, Celebs, Planet Hollywood
TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN

In the February 29, 2000 issue of Star, there the following writeup appears in the STARPEOPLE section:
Now that ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER has jumped ship, SYLVESTER STALLONE wants to be the hero that saves Planet Hollywood. Not long after ARNOLD cut his ties with the troubled restaurant chain, SLY made an unscheduled appearance at the Los Vegas location. He gave employees an impromptu pep talk, assuring them he could rescue the restaurants. Before he left, SLY asked the staff to remove the life-size cutout of ARNOLD that stood in the restaurant’s entrance.