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Reporter: "Rocky,
the press has labeled you a 'Balboasauras' who should be
in a museum. With all the 'ring rust,' how do you think
you'll hold up against the champ?"
Rocky: "Well, ya really don't know much about
nobody until ya lend 'em money or punch 'em hard."
YES, as implausible as it might seem, Rocky Balboa is back
for Round 6. Though the script certainly doesn't dance
around the fact that the Italian Stallion is stepping back
into the ring in his twilight years, Sylvester Stallone's
decision to get back into the ring has become the fodder
for countless jokes.
David Letterman's "Top Ten List" was among the
first to take dead aim: "Constantly says 'Yo, Adrian,
got my Lipitor?' " went one zinger. "After
tapping hands with other fighter, says, 'Not so hard!'
" went another. A writer quipped in the Miami Herald:
"Historians are calling it irrefutable proof that
mankind has officially run out of good ideas." And
one Internet message board posed the question:
"Shouldn't Rocky have massive brain damage by now
from getting hit in the head way too much just like
Ali?"
Enough with the "Rocky" jokes already,
complained Joe Roth, who heads Revolution Studios, which
along with Sony Pictures and its new banner, MGM, is
producing the new Rocky picture. "You can't turn on
television without someone making fun of it," he
said. "Jokes like, 'Who's he going to fight, Alan
Alda?' Or, 'Who's he going to fight, an HMO?' … It's
very easy to be cynical."
Roth said he expected the announcement to trigger some
humor, but added: "I'm surprised at the vehemence
[toward the new Rocky project]. I don't want to believe
people can be that nasty. They should reserve judgment,
frankly, at least, until they read the script."
The script for "Rocky Balboa" has the
over-the-hill Balboa taking on the reigning heavyweight
boxing champ Mason "The Line" Dixon. Both men
are trying to restore their dignity: Dixon because he's
reviled by fight fans for taking on unproven opponents;
Rocky because its been years since the aging boxer from
South Philly has climbed into a ring
The film, with Stallone as star and director, begins
principal photography Dec. 3 at the Mandalay Bay resort in
Las Vegas. The cameras will be recording crowd scenes that
night at the real-life Bernard Hopkins-Jermaine Taylor
middleweight title rematch for use in the movie.
It's the sixth installment in the landmark
"Rocky" franchise. The original, released in
1976, won three Academy Awards, including best picture,
and touched an emotional chord with moviegoers worldwide
for its heroic tale of the small-time Philadelphia boxer
who tries to prove he can go the distance with heavyweight
champion Apollo Creed.
But in the intervening years, the "Rocky"
sequels — "Rocky V" premiered 15 years ago —
like Stallone himself, have see-sawed in box office
popularity until now both are seen as icons of a bygone
era.
Stallone stunned the world last month with the
announcement that not only would he make "Rocky
Balboa," but, at age 59, he also would reprise his
role as former Vietnam vet and one-man army John J. Rambo
in "Rambo IV," which is scheduled to begin
production sometime in the spring.
Roth said that from a financial standpoint, "Rocky
Balboa" makes perfect sense. The production budget on
the 38-day shoot is projected to be $24 million — less
than half what the average studio film costs these days.
And though Stallone's North American box office appeal may
have tanked in recent years with a string of forgettable
films such as "Shade," "Driven" and
"Get Carter," the actor continues to have strong
audience appeal overseas, as does the character of Rocky.
Certainly in the early years, the franchise was lucrative.
The original "Rocky" grossed $117.2 million
domestically, with "Rocky II" grossing $85.2
million, "Rocky III" $125 million and
"Rocky IV" $127.9 million. But by 1990, the
onetime champ was on the ropes as "Rocky V's"
domestic gross dropped to $41 million.
"It's interesting how Rocky and Sylvester have been
so inextricably connected over the years," said
Robert Chartoff, who, with Irwin Winkler, produced all the
previous Rocky movies. "People see him as Rocky, to
some extent.
"We are very aware that it has been many years since
'Rocky' was made," added Chartoff, who, along with
Winkler and Stallone, will serve as executive producer on
the new film. "There is going to be a new audience
seeing it. Our criterion in making this film is to have it
stand on its own. It has qualities to be a wonderful
motion picture just because of what it is, not just
because it's a sequel to 'Rocky.' "
Revolution says there are plans for a special DVD
collection next year to mark the 30th anniversary of
"Rocky," which should help boost awareness of
"Rocky Balboa," currently scheduled for release
during the President's Day holiday in 2007.
Stallone will be getting a smaller upfront fee to star and
direct the film, those sources add, but should the film
become a global blockbuster, there are back-end deals that
would allow him to profit handsomely.
It wasn't the modest production cost that sold Roth on the
"Rocky Balboa" project. He said Stallone's
script harks back to the original.
It opens with Dixon (Antonio Tarver is set for the part)
in the ring landing a blow on an opponent's chin, sending
the other boxer to the canvas. But rather than cheer, the
crowd reacts with loud booing and hurls ice at Dixon's
corner. "Another disappointing title defense,"
says the ringside commentator. The next scene finds Rocky
seated on an old folding chair in a graveyard where his
wife, Adrian, is buried. Seated nearby is Rocky's
brother-in-law, Paulie. Rocky rises, kisses the headstone
and leaves. (Producers say Burt Young will return as
Paulie and Talia Shire will reprise her role as Adrian in
flashbacks.)
With these two contrasting, emotionally charged scenes,
Stallone reintroduces us to Rocky Balboa and his world,
setting the stage for what is surely one of the most
improbable comebacks in boxing history.
Rocky's "wife has died, he's alone, he's an
embarrassment to his son, he has nothing to lose and is
desperate to not make a third act of his life go in
anonymity," Roth said.
The bittersweet script has Rocky living in a fast-changing
world, but still driven to prove himself, even if it
elicits ridicule from those around him.
Rocky now owns a restaurant in the South Philly
neighborhood where he grew up, posing for photos with fans
who trickle in urging him to tell a few
"stories" about the good ol' days when he fought
Apollo Creed. The old neighborhood is changing. Asians
have replaced the Italians. Rocky orders cheeses from a
Vietnamese vendor, lettuce and other produce from a Korean
vendor. Rocky's son, Robert Jr. (played by Milo
Ventimiglia), now works for a big corporation. And he
doesn't have time for his old man.
Then, one day ESPN telecasts a computer-generated
recreation of great athletes of different eras competing
against one another in a simulated ring contest. One
matchup pits southpaw slugger Rocky Balboa against current
champ, Dixon.
It spawns an idea in Dixon's camp for an exhibition bout.
And Rocky, of course, is up for the challenge.
Stallone tackles the age issue head-on in the script. At
one point, his son asks Rocky: "Don't you think
you're too — ya know, old?" Rocky replies:
"Yeah but ya think ya oughta stop 'trying things'
'cause ya had a few too many birthdays? I don't." He
adds: "What's crazy with standin' toe to toe sayin'
'I AM.' "
One of Rocky's biggest hurdles is getting the approval of
the state boxing commission. Even though he passes the
physical, the commission still balks, which provokes this
exchange between a commissioner and Rocky:
"We're only looking out for your interests," the
commissioner says.
"Yeah, I appreciate it," Rocky replies,
"but I think you're lookin' out for your interests a
little — I mean, you shouldn't be askin' people to pay
the freight, an' they pay it, an' still it ain't good
enough?! Think that's right? Maybe ya doin' your job, but
why ya gotta stop me from doin' mine, cause if ya willin'
to go through all the battlin' ya gotta go through to get
to where ya wanna get, ain't nobody got the right to stop
ya!"
The script was already written when Roth came on board.
Roth said he was attending a New Year's Eve party last
year at the One & Only Palmilla resort in Cabo San
Lucas, Mexico, when he happened to run into Stallone.
"I don't know Stallone very well, just enough to say
'Hello,' " recalled Roth. "But he knows I'm a
boxing fan and a big fan of his ['Rocky'] movie. He told
me he had written a script for a new 'Rocky' and wondered
if I would be interested in reading it."
As fate would have it, Roth said, "Rocky"
co-producer Winkler walked into the same party about an
hour later and the project soon took off. "He
believed, as we believed, that the time could be right for
another 'Rocky.' "
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