Once Rocky became a national sensation, Sylvester Stallone admitted that the sudden fame got to his head. Stallone’s unpopularity in the public eye grew due to his statements in the press. During this period he made two films, F.I.S.T. and Paradise Alley, which achieved only moderate success. When Stallone returned for a Rocky sequel, he hated the media questioning whether Rocky II was his comeback.
Paradise Alley marked the actor’s directorial debut, with Stallone playing a professional wrestler in the film. The film couldn’t emulate the success of Rocky, both critically and commercially. However, the film gave him the confidence to take up the director’s role in Rocky II.
The One Question About Rocky II That Sylvester Stallone Hated
In a 1979 interview with film critic Roger Ebert, Sylvester Stallone opened up about his life after Rocky. Before the film, Stallone was a struggling actor who had written a script that no one believed in. The Demolition Man actor revealed that he was just earning a mere $1400 in 1972. However, once Rocky happened, Stallone admitted that he became a big shot and too arrogant.
The Tulsa King actor shared that his media image almost set him up for failure. His Rocky image was larger than the actor Sylvester Stallone at the time. Amidst this media frenzy, the Samaritan actor wrestled with making Rocky II, even suffering some serious injuries. Due to the hardships he endured, Stallone grew particularly mad when asked if Rocky II would save his career. The First Blood actor shared with Roger Ebert:
“There is this one question, which when I hear it makes me very mad. They all ask me, Will ‘Rocky II’ save your career? Is this my comeback, they wanna know? Will it pull my career out of the toilet? I didn’t think I was doin’ so bad. I’ve never made a film that lost money. If ‘Rocky II’ was a comeback, I coulda made it a lot more commercial, Like, Rocky coulda been an astronaut.”
Rocky II became a massive success grossing $200 million at the box office. The Creed actor had had enough of his media stunts when he encountered an upset fan after one of his TV interviews. The man asked, “Why are you doing this?” and walked away, which made Stallone rethink his public image in Hollywood at the time.
Sylvester Stallone Planned Only A Rocky Trilogy
The Rocky franchise proved successful, resulting in six original films and three spin-offs. Sylvester Stallone also plans to make a seventh Rocky film, which some fans view as an overkill. However, when he started out Stallone only had plans to make three films. While discussing Rocky II with Roger Ebert at the time, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 actor confirmed a third movie but also made it clear that there would be no Rocky IV. Stallone shared his movie plans after the Rocky series with Ebert:
“Yeah. I want to turn my attention to movies about love relationships. Exploring the female psyche – there ought to be some interesting discoveries there. Love stories. If you do it right, people want to hear romantic dialog. Like Rocky says, ‘If you wouldn’t be here, I couldn’t be here.’ It looks dangerously corny on the printed page. But if it works in a movie, people love it. People stories. I’m not at all interested in, you know, these ‘Nine Men Against the World’ movies. But there’ll never be a Rocky IV. You gotta call a halt.”
But the success of franchise movies at the time and his competition with Arnold Schwarzenegger to secure the biggest action star, forced Stallone to continue the Rocky series. All movies in the Rocky franchise are now available for streaming on MGM+.
