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
