Sylvester Stallone has been known for starring in the Rocky franchise as its lead Rocky Balboa throughout his years in Hollywood. The story of how Stallone created the 1976 movie from scratch has become quite world-famous now but another story disproves it.
In an interview, Robert Chartoff, one of the producers of the 1976 movie Rocky, talked about how the movie was made. Stating some harsh truths, the producer revealed that the studio behind the movie, United Artists, did not care whether the film was made or not.
The Studio Did Not Care Whether Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Was Made or Not
Rocky was made in 1976 with a script from Sylvester Stallone and the help of Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, the two producers of the movie. Having made many sacrifices for the making of the movie, Chartoff had some harsh truths to tell about Hollywood.
In an interview with Empire, Robert Chartoff revealed that the studio behind Rocky did not care at all whether the movie was made or not. Stating that the studio did not have strong feelings about making the movie, United Artists were really shocked when Sylvester Stallone (who was unknown at that time) would ask for funding for a movie like Rocky.
“Getting Sly to star in the film was not difficult, despite anything you might have heard over the years. The studio just didn’t care that much whether or not we made the picture. I think they were hoping we would forget about it. What had happened was that Irwin Winkler and myself had just signed a long-term commitment with United Artists to make films.”
He further continued,
“We had just made New York, New York for them and they wanted us to make substantial pictures, but then we brought in this little film with “Who? Sylvester what?” Obviously they didn’t have any strong feelings about making it. It was something that we wanted to make, and it was probably because we were just starting fresh with the studio and were committed to doing it that they agreed to do it.”
When talking about Sylvester Stallone, Robert Chartoff agreed that he had never doubted the actor’s abilities and that he had Stallone’s back during the rough phase. When the studio refused to make the movie if Stallone would be in the lead role, Chartoff revealed that he had no doubt in his mind regarding Stallone as the lead role.
Robert Chartoff Had No Problems With Sylvester Stallone Being The Lead
Back in 1976 when Rocky wasn’t still off the ground, Stallone had put a condition that only he can portray the character of Rocky Balboa. The studios paid him money to walk off the movie but he refused until he got his wishes come true. Robert Chartoff revealed that he did not care about how much money the movie would make since he only wanted to work alongside Sylvester Stallone.
“But there was never any question in my mind that Sylvester Stallone was going to be starring in it, in spite of all of the mythical stories you might hear. Making a million dollar picture with Stallone, that’s what it was all about.”
Sylvester Stallone found worldwide acclaim and fame by starring as Rocky Balboa in Rocky. The movie received a strong rating of 8.1/10 on IMDB and a high rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Rocky is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Source: Empire
