Gerardo Moreno has sent in another of his pieces of Sly art. Now who says Sly‘s too old for “Rocky VI”?
– Craig Zablo
Category: Rocky VI
Jazzman’s Teasers for “ROCKY VI”
Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes sent in the teaser posters that he created for “Rocky VI.”
He says that he’s excited about the prospect of a new “Rocky” movie.
After seeing Jazz’s teasers, I’m even more excited! – Craig Zablo
A Rocky Road
A Rocky Road
Sylvester Stallone is in training for another comeback
BY MARK CARO for the Chicago Tribune
Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2003
AUSTIN, Texas — Sylvester Stallone is climbing back into the ring, figuratively in “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” and literally in a sixth “Rocky” movie.
Yes, he has already written “Rocky VI,” which he’s calling “Puncher’s Chance,” the title referring to the idea that once in the ring, any fighter has a chance to land a knockout punch. Stallone — with “Spy Kids 3-D” the only one of his last four movies to actually make it to theaters — is looking for that shot as well.
“Rocky made his moment when he’s 29 years old,” a fit-looking Stallone, who turned 57 on July 6, said while in Austin for the “Spy Kids” premiere. “Now time has moved on, but how do you participate when your options are pretty limited? It’s not as though he’s a painter or a world traveler. He is a fixture in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is decaying. Do you decay with it? And when you try to fight back, (you’re told), ‘It’s ludicrous. Come on! Move on! Don’t be so vain.’
“It’s not about vanity,” he continued, his familiar gravelly voice turning soft. “It’s about, ‘I know I don’t feel as though I’ve hit the bottom. I haven’t dredged the bottom of my well yet, I don’t think.’ There’s a point when you sit back on your life, and you’re on your final days going, ‘You know? I did it all.’ And I don’t know if I’ve done it all. The character.”
These last two words were said as a reminder that he was talking about Rocky, not himself.
But he knows he can’t escape the parallels. Like his most famous character, Stallone has gone from top-of-the-world star to afterthought — a $20 million-per-movie action hero whose most recent efforts have bombed (“Get Carter,” “Driven,” the latter of which he wrote) or, worse yet, haven’t even received a U.S. theatrical release (“D-Tox,” also known as “Eye See You,” “Avenging Angelo,” “Shade”).
“Spy Kids 3-D,” which opened Friday, at least will get him in front of large audiences again. He plays the comical villain, the Toymaker, who has designed a video game that ultimately imprisons the minds of its players. The character’s goofiness manifests itself in multiple personalities that argue with one another: a bald, professor type, a blustery European military commander (Stallone refers to him as “Gooselini”) and a stringy-haired hippie. For good measure, Stallone also plays a TV reporter.
Like most of the movie, his scenes were shot in front of green screens so that computerized scenery and special effects could be added later. Aside from a climactic confrontation with Ricardo Montalban, who plays the Spy Kids‘ wheelchair-bound grandpa, Stallone is mostly acting with himself.
How did he feel about acting without other actors? “I’ve been doing that for the last 10 years,” he quipped, laughing.
Stallone‘s sense of humor may not be one of his better-known traits, but it’s the key reason “Spy Kids 3-D” director Robert Rodriguez said he cast him.
Stallone compared working with a green screen to “being held face down in a bowl of guacamole for three weeks” (though his part took just five days to shoot).
“Yeah, it’s strange. It’s like working without a net.”
Yet “Spy Kids 3-D” feels like a safe move compared with what Stallone has planned. First up is a ripped-from-the-headlines crime drama called “Thugz Life” (formerly “Rampart Scandal”) that Stallone has written and is preparing to direct in his first stint behind the camera since 1985’s “Rocky IV.” He’ll also star as real-life Los Angeles police detective Russell Poole, whose career crashed as he tried to get to the bottom of the Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls murders.
Then there’s “Puncher’s Chance,” which continues Stallone‘s exploration of counted-out guys who keep forging ahead.
He admits he goofed in giving Rocky brain damage in “Rocky V,” which ended with Rocky brawling with his ungrateful protege on the street rather than in the ring.
“It was a big mistake on my part because nobody wants to see the dark, depressing underbelly of a character they’ve had joy with,” Stallone said.
So Rocky will return to the ring for movie No. 6.
– Craig Zablo
“Rocky 6” Tidbit
Rocky 6
Hey Craig,
I just thought that I’d send you a note about Stallone. Stallone was interviewed on Jim Rome’s Sports Radio Show today (7/23) at 12:30pm and was asked about Rocky 6. He said that the script is finished and that it is called “The Puncher’s Chance”. He mentioned that the story is a lot like George Foreman‘s return to the ring and that Rocky‘s opponent is a like a 6’6″ Allen Iverson. ??? Whoa. Take that for what it’s worth. It’s still up in the air as to whether or not it will get made, but Stallone says that the deal is close. Anyway, I thought Stallone Zoner’s would want to know. Most of the interview was about Spy Kids 3D and nothing was mentioned about Rambo IV.…sadly. :(…..
Sincerely,
Mark Dambach
Thanks to Mark for the tip! – Craig Zablo
Will there be another “Rocky”?
In the July 20, 2003 Who’s News section of USA Weekend the following appeared:
Q: Is Sylvester Stallone really working on another “Rocky” movie? Angel Moll, Bellingham, Mass.
Yes. Stallone, 57, now is writing a script that will have sensitive boxer Rocky Balboa jumping into the ring for a sixth time [it’s been a while; “Rocky V” came out in 1990]. Meanwhile, Stallone can be seen as the villain in “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” next weekend. The role of the baddie is a switch for the actor, one that’ll no doubt tickle his three daughters with third wife Jennifer Flavin [Sophia, 6, Sistine, 5, and Scarlet, 1]. The Los Angeles-based star, who has two older children from his first marriage, also is waiting to see whether “Shade,” an independent con-man caper he filmed with Melanie Griffith will be released.
– Craig Zablo
Drago to Return?
From Dark Horizons today:
Dolph Lundgren‘s Next: Confucius say – Dolph‘s career fell in woods and no-one around to hear it, did it make sound? Guess not. The 45 year-old 6’6″ Swede has three projects set for release this year and recently discussed one of those with B & K Sports Magazine – “I’ve done Alien Agent. I play a man who must stop a gateway opening between two galaxies. It’s a science fiction movie of sorts. Sidney Furie is the director, and we have an amazing cast”. Direct to video you say? Maybe, but another project he may be involved in won’t be so misfortunate: “Sly‘s writing a new Rocky. The 6th one, and tells me he’s going to try and write Ivan Drago in it. There’s no way I’d miss out on an opportunity on sparring with Balboa again. In my opinion, Rocky IV, was one of the best Rocky sequels. Not the least – the better of my films. If we can get those two guys back in the ring again, we could have something special. And from what Sly tells me, it’s going to be good. I look forward to doing it”. Thanks to ‘Daeagel’
Thanks to John La Cour who was first with the tip and to the many others who also sent it in!
– Craig Zablo [January 7, 2003]
SLYFECTA
The October 26th issue of Entertainment Weekly contains three Sly items!
#1 Sly Schemes Rocky may be down, but don’t count him out: MGM KO’d plans for Rocky 6 – the studio would only commit $10 million to the sequel – but franchise creator and star Sylvester Stallone is shopping other Italian Stallion-inspired projects. He’s pitching the networks a sitcom about a boxing priest: Father Lefty, which Stallone would produce but not star in, features a tough but loving man of the cloth. “It’s about a very eccentric priest who has his thumb on the pulse,” says the 55-year-old actor. “A real character who’s not far from Rocky.” He also thinks Rocky: The Musical could be a Broadway box office champ. “It would be very similar to the movie, but of course with songs,” says Stallone. “I’ll probably write the book.” Would Rocky belt out Survivor‘s “Eye of the Tiger“? “Absolutely Do-do, doo, doo,”Sly sings. “It’s the thrill of the fight.”
#2 Expecting Stop! Or my wife will deliver. Sylvester Stallone, 55, and model spouse Jennifer Flavin, 33, are expecting their third child. (A due date was not announced.) Daughters Sophia and Sistine are 5 and 3, respectively. Stallone also has two sons, Sage, 25, and Seargeoh, 22, from his first marriage.
#3 In the Encore section there is the above pic and an article about the birth of Planet Hollywood ten years ago.
-Craig Zablo
(October 20, 2001)
3 STALLONE ITEMS & STALLONEZONE RECOGITION!
Here are four interesting Sly tidbits:
1. In the September 10, 2001 issue of US Weekly, Sly is mentioned in Michael Lewittes “The Scene” column: Sylvester Stallone, in an olive-green suit, chomping on a cigar and eating dinner with 15 Minutes writer-director John Herzfeld in the back of Elaine’s in New York.
2. SylvesterStallone.com updated last week with three voice messages from the man himself. Sly talks about the possibility of Rocky 6, Rocky on Broadway, several tv series that he is developing (but not going to star in, plus Avenging Angelo, Dolan’s Cadillac, and more!
AIN’T IT COOL NEWS posted a news item (written by SZ regular Andrew aka ABKing) about the update as well.
3. On Tuesday, Dark Horizons posted information from a Q & A session with director Paul Anderson. Sly fans will be excited to hear that Anderson’s next project is “Death Race 3000” and that Anderson is confident that Tom Cruise will play the lead character and Anderson “mentioned that he wanted Sylvester Stallone to return and play the same role that he played in the original.”
4. TV Today (a German magazine) recently ran piece on Celebrity Websites. We are proud to say that the Sylvester Stallone site that they chose to profile was Craig Zablo’s StalloneZone! That’s right, SZoners, we were recognized in Germany! Thanks to Lot Of Sly for giving us the heads-up on the article. I would also like to thank John Beatty, Ernest “Jazzman” Resendes, and Rob “rOb” deVera – the best non-paid staff anywhere. I would also like to thank all of the SZoners who support our efforts… and of course Mr. Sylvester Stallone. (The article is reprinted above — if anyone could translate it, it would be greatly appreciated!)
– Craig Zablo (September 3, 2001)
Sly in Your Future
I wanted to give everyone a “heads-up’ on a couple of places that you’ll find Stallone in the near future.
VANITY FAIR’S HOLLYWOOD is the title of a new book that serves up a collection of photos, essays, and caricatures from the magazine’s 86 year history. Look for Sly to appear in a picture with Brigitte Nielsen in the section of celebrity couples. The book will retail for $50 from Viking Studio.
The third issue of TOTAL MOVIE goes on sale January 9th and looks to be something that all STALLONE fans will want. The issue will contain a feature called “ROCKY AT 25” which will celebrate the anniversary with the “ultimate guide to the Italian Stallion, and a look forward to the elusive “Rocky VI.”- Craig Zablo (November 18, 2000)
Stallone Courts Controversy in Comeback Attempt
Posted on Fri, Aug. 01, 2003
Stallone Courts Controversy in Comeback Attempt
By Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
Settling in for an interview in an Austin hotel suite recently, Sylvester Stallone bypasses a nearby couch and instead chooses a straight-backed desk chair across the room.
“I’ll get too comfortable if I sit in one of those,” he says.
It seems too easy, this ready-made metaphor, but comfort is a commodity Stallone no longer can afford. A box-office heavyweight in the 1970s and ’80s thanks to his Rocky and Rambo movies, the 57-year-old actor-writer-director has spent the past decade on the ropes. Studios balk at hiring him. Distributors won’t touch his movies.
In this summer of comebacks, Stallone joins Demi Moore and fellow strongman Arnold Schwarzenegger in making bids for continued viability. His is modest: He plays the villain in Spy Kids 3D: Game Over. His real hopes reside in his next project, an ambitious film he calls Thugz Lives, about the murders of rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. that Stallone wrote and hopes to direct and star in. It’s a risky proposition, unlike anything he’s ever done, with the potential to resuscitate his career or blow up in his face.
It isn’t his first comeback attempt. He tried in 1997, in Cop Land, an intelligent drama about police corruption that co-starred Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta. Stallone spent six weeks gorging on pancakes to gain 40 pounds. His character found a core of courage and became heroic at the end, but for most of the movie he played a mope, looked down on by nearly everyone.
Stallone hoped the role would show that the early promise he displayed as an actor was real, that he could do more than cartoon action heroes. But despite the stellar cast and good reviews, the movie did middling business. Stallone took that as evidence his audience didn’t want to see him flex his acting muscles; they wanted the old familiar Sly, talking tough and cracking heads.
“Nobody wants to see John Wayne perform The Nutcracker, you know,” Stallone says. “He may be the best ballet dancer in the world, but nobody wants to see him like that.”
After Cop Land, things went from bad to worse with a string of flops.
“It can eat you up,” he says of failure. “It just does a number on your self-esteem. The acting part is easy. The hard part of this business is maintaining your equilibrium and confidence. That’s why so many actors get hooked on alcohol and drugs.”
And maintaining that confidence has indeed been hard lately. Shade, the last movie in which he starred, languishes without a distributor. D-Tox (also known as Eye See You) opened on a handful of screens last year, earning $79,000, before going to video. Avenging Angelo, the film before that, never got an American theatrical release.
Driven, Stallone‘s last film to open wide, earned back less than half of its production costs before it vanished from domestic screens in 2001. And the total U.S. gross of Get Carter ($15 million) was less than some major movies make on opening night.
Stallone isn’t the only one who wants to change that run of failure. Robert Rodriguez, the Austin filmmaker who created the Spy Kids franchise, met Stallone in 1997 at the Venice Film Festival. Following the premiere party for Cop Land, they hung out together, and Rodriguez was surprised to see a side of Stallone that rarely came through on film.
“I’d always been a fan of his, but I’d never known how funny he really is,” says Rodriguez, adding sheepishly, “I wondered why his comedies weren’t any good.” Then he realized Stallone was always a hired hand in the comedies, working for other directors from scripts he didn’t write.
“He was always funny in the Rocky movies,” Rodriguez says.
So when it came time to cast the role of the Toymaker, the villain in Spy Kids 3D, he thought of Stallone. For his part, Stallone says he had no choice but to accept. His kids (he has three with his third wife, former model Jennifer Flavin) are big Spy Kids fans.
“I had to do it,” he says. “Otherwise, I’d be disowned by a 6-year-old.
“He had a ball, he says. He loved not being the center of attention, not being the star who has to carry the picture.
Now, as he begins to plan a sixth Rocky film, Stallone is pushing ahead with Thugz Lives. The movie, like a previous documentary and book on the cases, will link the murders of Shakur and Biggie to corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department and to geographical rivalries within the hip-hop record business. Stallone, who hopes to start filming in September, hints there also will be a suggestion of FBI involvement.
“This is like the JFK assassination to the black community,” Stallone says. “And like the JFK assassination, they’ll be battling this out for the next 100 years, trying to figure out what happened.”Which is exactly what Stallone wants: to be back in the middle of a big fight.
– Craig Zablo