Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2019, Arcane, Balboa Productions, Celebs, Rocky, TV

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

Presenting Sly Stallone’s Balboa Productions

Craig / / 2019, Balboa Productions, Nighthawks, The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, The Tenderloin

Matt Donnelly at Variety checks in with Sylvester Stallone’s Production Company Wants to Be the Blumhouse of Action Films and it is well worth a read.  The piece talks about the goal of Sly creating Balboa Productions…

“My goal is for us to be the go-to place for action,” says Aftergood. He wants Balboa to follow the specialty model of Blumhouse, the company behind “Get Out” and “The Purge.” “I appreciate that statement is grandiose, but Blumhouse has done an extraordinary job owning the horror space,” says Aftergood. “There is no reason why we can’t own the action space in a similar way.”

The rationale  behind Sly creating Balboa Productions…

“At one of our first meetings, I asked him why he wanted to do this,” Aftergood recalls. “Starting and running a company is a pain in the ass. I don’t care who you are or how many people are underneath you — at some point you have to answer a question about payroll, about office decor. In Stallone’s case, he seemed to have graduated past all of that.” Stallone answered with one word: legacy.

Balboa Productions that are in the pipeline…

  • Arcane, a monster movie from director Corin Hardy
  • The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil  remake co-starring Sly
  • The Bellhop, starring Iko Uwais star of The Raid: Redemption
  • Samaritan starring Sly
  • Biopic of black boxing legend Jack Johnson produced by Sly
  • Nighthawks reboot for USA network based on Sly’s 1981 film
  • The Tenderloin, a cop drama for History.

For all the details click over to Sylvester Stallone’s Production Company Wants to Be the Blumhouse of Action Films.

(The only thing missing is Sly’s adaptation of Hunter by James Byron Huggins.  Cannot wait to see what Sly does with this great action/horror novel.  It is a natural for him and Balboa Productions! – Craig)

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2019, Celebs, Escape Plan 3, Family, Honors, Jennifer Flavin-Stallone, Lock Up

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week:

RIP – Stephen Verona

Craig / / 2019, Celebs, Lords of Flatbush

Stephen Verona died on Saturday after a year and a half long battle with lung cancer.  Readers of this site probably know Verona best as the Producer, Co-Writer and Director of Lords of Flatbush, but Verona was much more than that.

Verona got his start creating commercials.  He met and became friends with John Lennon which led to Verona getting to animate the Beatles song I Feel Fine.  Next came a music short with Barbara Streisand.  He went on to work with Natalie Cole, Chicago, Simon & Garfunkel and many others.

Verona was a screenwriter, an award-winning  director of feature films, television episodes and specials, an  an award-winning painter and photographer.  A renaissance man, indeed.

The Hollywood Reporter posted that “When Stallone learned that Verona was ill, he sent him an email saying that his career would not have been the same without him.”  The same could be said for many other celebrities.

Had Stephen Verona only been known as the talent behind Lords of Flatbush, it would have been worth noting here, but I hope fans know he was so much more.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stephen Verona’s family, friends and fans.

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week

Craig / / 2019, Celebs, Creed, Family

Sly and the Family Stallone News for the Week: