Nearly 50 years ago, actor Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa was a down-on-his-luck club fighter who worked as a seedy collector on the docks. After six films and aCreedspin-off franchise, featuring three of its own installments, fans forget that the Italian Stallion originally served as a muscle-bound collector to the disreputable but likable Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinell) inRocky. And originally, Balboa was supposed to be an even darker character in director John G. Avildsen’s seminal film. In fact, Stallone revealed in the new Netflix documentarySlythat it was a friend of his who convinced him to soften Rocky up considerably. As a result, the character of Adrian was conceived. Stallone said (viaDeadline):
“She goes, ‘I hate Rocky. I hate him. He’s cruel. He hits people. He beats them up.' I said, ‘What if you stop short of it?’ Like, maybe he almost did. He could have, that’s his job, but he doesn’t?’ ‘That’d be nice.’ I said, ‘What if he had a girlfriend or something?’ ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’ So, I go back, start writing that: ‘Girlfriend. Nice.'”
That nice girlfriend, Adrian, ended up being played by actress Talia Shire. InRocky II(1979), Balboa and Adrian get married, and later in the picture their son is born. Rocky gives up working for Gazzo, and the shady gangster-like character doesn’t appear in any of the films after the first sequel. Adrian was undoubtedly the heart of the franchise and a source of true love and support for the boxer until its revealed she has passed away at the beginning ofRocky Balboa.
Every Rocky & Creed Movie, Ranked
Looking back at the impact the Rocky franchise had and ranking each movie alongside the Creed continuation.
The Success of Rocky
Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time. Working in a meat factory in Philadelphia for a pittance, he also earns extra cash as a debt collector. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a “nobody” to become a “somebody”. The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.
Sylvester Stallone’sdecision to make Rocky Balboa a more likable character served the franchise quite well, and it obviously helped garner the original film a total of nine Academy Award nominations. Stallone (Best Actor), Shire (Best Actress), Burgess Meredith (Supporting Actor) and Burt Young (Supporting Actor) were all nominated for their brilliant performances, but none of them took home an Oscar.
In the end, the firstRockywon Best Picture along with two other Oscars (Best Director and Best Film Editing) at the 1977 Academy Award ceremony. In addition,Rockycleaned up at the box office with a domestic take of $117.2 million (perBox Office Mojo).
In 1979, it may have seemed the magic wore off whenRocky IIonly brought in $85.2 million domestically, but then the Italian Stallion faced off againstthe overpowering Clubber Lang (Mr. T) inRocky III. The third installment exceeded even the success of the original film with $124.1 million in U.S. cinemas, and in 1985Rocky IVscored a then franchise-best $128 million with its original theatrical run.Creed IIIeventually took over that honor with $156 million.
So, Stallone’s decision to soften up the hard-punching brawler, who turned into the heavyweight champion, ended up being a brilliant move by the filmmaker. And the original movie continues to be a favorite, particularly with critics, worldwide 47 years later.
