Author: Craig

StalloneZone Exclusive Coverage: Sly at Mr. Olympia 2004

Craig / / 2004, Celebs, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, StalloneZone

Randy Rousseau, sent in a great report of his coverage of Sylvester Stallone‘s appearance at the 2004 Mr. Olympia contest held in Las Vegas.  Here’s what Randy had to say:

Hi Craig. Wow! What a show!

This show was much like the Arnold Classic, same kind of displays just Vegas style, as you can see the ladies on the tables dancing…and in the cage.

But the best booth at the show and most impressive was Stallone‘s Instone booth. It had a huge banner of Sly with a Rolls/Royce Bentley as an Instone give away, promotional ads for Sly‘s new magazine, and the Instone Challenge promotion. They had a sign telling everyone what time and date to expect to see Sly and Jennifer.
People started to line up two hours early for the chance to meet the Stallones.

Instone was handing out samples of Sly‘s pudding, t-shirts and pictures of Sly for him to sign when he arrived. The crowd was very pumped waiting to see the screen legend. There were about one hundred people in line when in walks the man. Sly said hello to everyone in his booth then turned and waved to the crowd. Sly then went over to look at the car and said, It looks great.”

My son had brought along our Judge Dredd helmet from the film and he was holding it up to see if Sly would spot him. As Sly looked over the crowd he stopped and made eye contact with my son and said, “I thought I was the only one who had that. Sly came over to say, “Hello,” but too many people rushed him, so I put my son on my shoulders to lean over to Sly for him to autograph the helmet.

My cousin had also brought along our Over the Top doll of Stallone to have him sign. Sly got a real kick out of seeing that. And he gladly signed it while having fun with the crowd. My daughter had red, white and blue boxing gloves that Sly signed for her. The crowd was having a great time as Sly was signing tons of autographs.

Than my wife said, “Look, honey! It’s John from The Dukes of Hazard and Smallville in Stallone‘s booth.” Sly saw him too and went over to say “hello” and take some photos with him. How cool is that? (Smallville meets Rambo.)

Both of my kids had on their Planet Hollywood jackets and they wanted Sly to sign them, but it was very tough to get them close to Sly.

So we went over to say hello to John and told him we all love Smallville and of course we loved The Dukes of Hazard.  We asked if he would sign the kids’ Planet Hollywood jackets and he said, “sure” and that they were beautiful.

Then we saw Jennifer Stallone!

We went over to say, “hello” and ask if she would sign the Planet Hollywood jackets. Jennifer said, “I’m no star. Let me have them I will take them to Sly and have him sign them for you. Is that ok?”  YES!

Jennifer went right over, laid the jackets on the back of the Bentley and she interrupted Sly to sign them. IT WAS COOL. Jennifer came back and said, “Those are beautiful jackets.” We thanked her. Jennifer looked at my kids and asked, “Do you really want me to sign these?” and they said “Yes.”

I told Jennifer my wife was her profit center from Serious Skin Care and she laughed. Than she said, “Did your kids get a picture? Come on over and get one with Sly.” We took a few and watched as other people took pictures.  Mrs. Stallone is very very down to earth and is just a nice person. She deserves the best.  No Hollywood attitude found. Just a real person.

Sly signed autographs, posed for pictures and shook hands with everyone for over two hours. What a treat for his fans! It’s no wonder he has lasted for so long. Before leaving I took some pictures of the new Rocky slot machines. What fun they are to play! They have different levels to pass and cartoons from Rocky in the ring and they play scenes from the film and blast the Rocky theme. – Randy Rousseau

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Randy, What a great report and pictures! Thanks for sharing. And now without further commentary, more of Randy’s photos! – Craig

Believe it or not, Randy sent in even more pics that we’ve been able to post in this report! We’ll try to get the rest of them up by next weekend.

Randy, thanks for sharing!

best – Craig

Sly Goes DIRECTLY to the Cover!

Craig / / 2004, The Contender

Ernest Jazzman Resendes sent in the following scan November 2004 issue of DirectTV along with this:

The November 2004 issue of DIRECT TV has Sly on it’s cover and a real nice article entitled “Saved by the Bell.” And here’s a quote that sums it up: “If The Contender scores a knockout, SYLVESTER STALLONE will once again be called a genius.”

Thanks to Jazz for the scan and quotes! – Craig

Sly Gets Maxim Exposure!

Craig / / 2004, Rambo 4, Rocky 6

Ernest Jazzman Resendes sent in the following scan and quotes from the November 2004 issue of Maxim:

Has working on (The Contender) gotten you fired up to make Rocky 6? 
Stallone: I’m always fired up to make another Rocky. It dawned on me a long time ago that I have this character who’s almost autobiographical, so his story can keep going. The character can go places where the actor is in his life. The movies almost become documentaries.

So where is Rocky now?
Stallone: Society says to people, “Step aside; age gracefully.” I’ve never thought there was anything graceful about aging. So I used what George Foreman did with his comeback fight a few years ago as a model. Everyone thought he was a joke, but he followed his own drum.

Since you’re still in fighting shape, will Rambo be back, too?
Stallone: There has been movement in that area, yes. Of course, it won’t be what you think – not the same Rambo with the headband. In keeping with some sort of believability, he would be passing the torch to a younger generation of high-tech combatants. We’re working on an interesting premise where Rambo is brought back from living on a ranch somewhere, and because of his skills in jungle warfare and survival, he’s asked to lead a young group in a search-and-rescue mission. They can’t believe this decrepit guy is a war hero, but when their technology fails, they see where Rambo excels.

Thanks to Jazz for the scan and quotes! Thanks also to Peter Panagiotou for the heads-up!- Craig

Sylvester Stallone Back in the Ring

Craig / / 2004, Rocky 6, The Contender, TV

From the USA Weekend for October 29-31, 2004

Sylvester Stallone goes back to a boxing ring in January as host and co-producer of The Contender, an NBC “reality” entry. The man who became a star as Rocky Balboa offers potential Rockys a shot at fame and fortune, but he promises his audience more than a fight.

“The fights will just be about five minutes,” says Stallone, 58. Co-Producer Mark Burnett says Stallone is right for the job because “he loves boxing and what it means to the fans.” He’s been cold at the box office, though, so it’s unlikely a planned Rocky VI will happen now.

– Craig Zablo

Sly Steers Clear and Finds Motivation!

Craig / / 2004, Celebs
STALLONE STEERS CLEAR OF ROMANTIC COMEDIES
from Contactmusic.com News for October 25, 2004

Hollywood actor SYLVESTER STALLONE has sworn off ever starring in a romantic comedy – because he believes his fans will only ever accept him as an action hero.

Stallone, who scored a huge fanbase in such action franchises as ROCKY and RAMBO, admits he’s never been too successful whenever he’s strayed outside of his usual genre.

He tells MAXIM magazine, “It’s hard to make such a drastic change when you’re identified with a certain character or genre.

“Some guys have amazing versatility and can move around more guys like TOM HANKS, RUSSELL CROWE, PAUL NEWMAN.

“But other fells… their baggage arrives 10 minutes before they do. People go, ‘Oh! It’s Rocky!’

“Let me put it this way: You won’t see Sylvester Stallone starring in NOTTING HILL 2.”

25/10/2004 02:52

STALLONE CREDITS HERCULES FOR MUSCLE MOTIVATION
from Contactmusic.com News for October 25, 2004

RAMBO star SYLVESTER STALLONE credits the 1958 movie HERCULES for giving him the inspiration to develop big muscles.

The Hollywood actor, who has boasted a muscular frame for a number of years, hated his skinny body when he was growing up.

He tells MAXIM magazine, “When I was young, I was very thin and not athletic. I felt isolated because I was never picked for teams and I wasn’t really brought up in a sports-minded family.

“But when I was 12 I went to see HERCULES with STEVE REEVES and I had an epiphany. I literally went from the theatre to a junkyard to find heavy stuff to lift.

“At that time gyms were dungeons’ dark, weird places with things that looked like they were used during the Inquisition. And people were into weird experimentation like the Cheese Diet and eating raw eggs.”

25/10/2004 09:21

– Craig