Category: Cop Land

Mangold on Getting Stallone for “Cop Land”

Craig / / 2013, Celebs, Cop Land


James Mangold who directed the just released Wolverine recently spoke about his experience in getting Stallone for Cop Land…

“I didn’t want him in my movie,” [Mangold] laughs. [Mangold] told the agent he thought it was a terrible idea.

“He said why. I go, ‘He’s a joke, he’s like a Planet Hollywood jacket-wearing, entourage-driving … he hasn’t made a good movie in years.’ I love Sly by the way, he’s a friend to this day, but I felt like I would be nothing but a mockery to my cool friends to be making a movie with Sly.”

The agent told him to tell this to Stallone’s face, so the two met over dinner in New York. What ?he found was “an incredibly intelligent man”. Mangold changed his mind, but attached ?13 conditions, including that Stallone would have to gain 40-50lbs, he couldn’t change the script, and he could not leave the set early. Not one rule was broken.

Thanks to The HeraldScotland for the post.

 

Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

Craig / / 2013, Cliffhanger, Cobra, Cop Land, Demolition Man, Get Carter, John Rambo, Judge Dredd, Nighthawks, Rambo, Rambo II, Rambo III, Rhinestone, Rocky, Rocky Balboa, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky VI, Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot

On February 1, 2013, WhatCulture! posted Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

  • According to WhatCulture! 5 that were Awesome: Rambo [First Blood and sequels], John Spartan [Demolition Man], Gabe Walker [Cliffhanger], Freddy Heflin [Cop Land], and Rocky Balboa [Rocky and sequels].
  • Their Choices for Not-So-Awesome: Judge Dredd [same name], Ray Quick [The Specialist], Marion Cobretti [Cobra], Jack Carter [Get Carter], and Joe Bomoski [Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!].

To Awesome I would delete Spartan and Walker to make room for Jack Carter and Deke Dasilva [Nighthawks].  To Not-So-Awesome I would delete Carter and add Nick from Rhinestone. – Craig

5 Essential Sylvester Stallone Films

Craig / / 2013, Cop Land, Expendables, First Blood, Get Carter, John Rambo, Nighthawks, Rambo, Rocky, Rocky Balboa

On January 30, 2013, AZCentral.com posted 5 Essential Sylvester Stallone Films.  Their choices [with embeded trailers]:

  1. Rocky
  2. First Blood
  3. Cop Land
  4. Rocky Balboa
  5. The Expendables
While it would be hard to argue with their list, I think I would pair Rocky/Rocky Balboa and First Blood / Rambo.  This would open up two slots and I’d add: Get Carter and Nighthawks. – Craig

James Mangold, Sly & Cop Land

Craig / / 2011, Cop Land

On November 2, 2011, IndieWire posted a nice interview with director, James Mangold, with the focus being working with Sylvester Stallone on Copland.  Here are a few tidbits…

  • Mangold didn’t want Sly:  “I didn’t want him,” Mangold explained. “When he was first brought up to me, I was like, ‘Please God no!’ My whole perception of Sly at that point was, and he’s a friend and he would understand, but it was like he’d made this series of slightly-less than his best tentpole movies that weren’t very taxing for him, and he was just kind of an indestructible force in one picture after another. And I was looking to cast a vulnerable guy who was soft, who can’t quite pull the trigger – and I’m getting Judge Dredd?”
  • How Sly won over Mangold:  “All I laid out on the table was that I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he was going to take control of it, and I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he was going to change it, and I didn’t want to make this movie with him if he wouldn’t get fat,” Mangold explained. “And Sly in each case was like, look, it’s your movie, it’s your script, so we’ll do exactly what you wrote, and also, I’ll gain weight – I’d love to. And he was an angel about it in a way that a lot of other actors I’d approached before him were not angels about it. They were not happy about playing the unsexy or hesitant hero at the center of the movie, and here was this guy who was really into it. And I decided to take the leap with him, and for many reasons I’m glad I did.”

  • Miramax imposed a variety of changes upon the film because of test screening reactions and expectations that its high-profile cast would turn it into a box office champ. Describing how his cut differs, he said, “I think the biggest difference is that there’s a little less effort at the end to try and tie everything into a happy meal. I think there were several codas on the theatrically released version that were made to make audiences feel that their fanny was patted, their hair was combed and they were sent home with a warm and fuzzy feeling about everybody. I definitely never made the movie trying to make the feel-good movie of the year.”

Check out the interview for the full story!

And there’s more at…