Screen Rant » rocky

Stallone Making Rocky 7 After Rambo 5?

Ross Miller — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:58:05 +0000

Despite some rumblings here and there, here’s a little piece of news that I didn’t see actually becoming a reality. We already know Sylvester Stallone is well underway with his awesome looking The Expendables, and that he’s already got Rambo 5 in the pipeline. But that’s not all – apparently after that, Sly is going to give his most well known character another bout in the ring with another Rocky flick.

Stallone reportedly spoke to Tele 5 in Germany recently and since then, the quotes from that interview have made their way online and spread like wild fire (don’t they always?). The quotes are being sourced everywhere from Teen Say (special thanks to /Film for picking it up from them), where Stallone reveals his desire/intention to make Rocky 7. Here’s what he had to say:

“I know I’ll probably make a fool of myself if I make another ‘Rocky’ film after turning 60…. I also know there’s gonna be a lot of criticism. Even my wife says, ‘Don’t do it. You’re embarrassing the kids’. But I told her, ‘If I don’t try I’ll be a really unhappy man…. You have to do it. Artists like me have to go through the dark over and over again.”

“When I was 21 years old and at drama school. My teacher said to me, ‘If you ever put your head out there, thousands of people will try to cut it off, but that’s exactly what you need to do as an artist.’

“I know it’s ludicrous and everyone would laugh. I would laugh about it. But I also know that I’d be successful if I can make this a film about becoming older, not about boxing but about myself.”

I’m sure there will be much debate on whether Stallone should go ahead and make another Rocky film, and therefore I know I’m not alone on being on the side of the fence that thinks he should just leave the franchise be. I thought Rocky Balboa was suppose to be Rocky’s “one more time” film and that would be it. To me, Sly ended that franchise perfectly with Balboa, tying it up in such a way that to me, the idea of making another takes a lot of the weight out of the whole thing.

With Rambo I can understand making another one, since there’s still a lot that can still be done with the character (I think if Stallone delivers more of the carnage he did in the latter half of Rambo last year, we’ll all be happy). But what else can he do with Rocky? It seems he’d just be retreading old water for no real reason other than milking the cash cow making it for the hell of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure with the passion Sly has for the character, that a Rocky 7 would be be done well (if he strives for the quality of the last one). But to be honest, I’m a bit miffed as to what the point really is in making it. But that’s just me.

What are your thoughts on this: Should Stallone make Rocky 7? Or did he tie the franchise up perfectly with Rocky Balboa and he should just leave it at that?

Rocky 7 doesn’t have any official shooting or release date set yet, but presumably if it goes ahead it’d start shooting in late 2010/early 2011.

Sources: TeenSay and /Film

Bollywood Epic Brings Together Action Heroes

Jamie Williams — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:08:50 +0000

You can definitely list this one under, “What the…?!?”

Incredible Love, the first Bollywood film to be made at Universal Studios, has lined up the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator franchise), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky and Rambo series), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns and the upcoming sequel Man of Steel) and Linda Hamilton (also from The Terminator series) to appear.

But don’t get ahead of yourselves excited at the prospects of them in full-on action-mode blowing stuff up. They’re only walk-on parts (i.e. playing themselves).

The actual plot involves “an Indian stuntman who takes Hollywood by storm but cannot find true love there.”

Its also the most expensive Bollywood production ever made. And that apparently comes from nabbing said actors. As producer Sajid Nadiadwala explained:

“As a producer, these stars are expensive. But as their fan I feel money is of no consequence.”

Personally, it seems like a waste to pay them a bunch of cash just to show up and say, “Hey, what’s up? I’m *fill in the blank*” I’d totally want to get my money’s worth and have a big musical dance number where Arnold and Sly compare their cinematic bad-ass-ness.

But maybe that’s just me…

Sources: The Times and Sify

MGM Raids Their Vault… Again: Robocop, Fame, & Rocky?

Niall Browne — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:05:14 +0000

MGM has the largest back-catalog of movies in Hollywood – musicals, James Bond, Ben-Hur - you name it, MGM has it stashed in a vault somewhere. They have over 4,000 movies. Just imagine the amount of DVDs they could release and re-release and… you see what I’m getting at.

In the past several years they haven’t been too lucky: They were bought out by Sony and became a little more than a distribution company… but recently they’ve been getting back into the producing sector.

They have Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie in the pipeline, but hey – who needs an original idea when you can remake an old film or bleed a franchise dry.

MGM has set its sights on RoboCop and Fame remakes as well as more Bond, more Pink Panther films, and maybe more than two Hobbit films and possibly, possibly – another Rocky!

Yes you read that correctly.

Another Rocky film.

MGM honchos Mary Parent and Harry Sloan recently talked about the company’s future at the
American Pavilion, where Sloan stated:

“Ultimately MGM needed to stand on its own. We needed to go into original production. Films like ‘The Hobbit’ are immense opportunities.”

Parent went on to say:

“The library is a treasure chest. There is a great deal to pull. ‘RoboCop,’ possibly in 3-D. ‘RoboCop’ would be great in 3-D, as would something we’re hoping to announce soon.”

With regards to The Hobbit she said :

“There’s 80 years between the end of ‘The Hobbit’ and the beginning of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Think of the franchise.”

I think that the sound you just heard was J. R. R. Tolkien spinning in his grave.

Mary Parent also mentioned the possibility of another Rocky film, however when she broached the idea to the crowd, they didn’t seem too enthused by the idea. I wonder what Sylvester Stallone thinks?

I can live with Bond sequels, to be honest with you – I can’t get enough of them. I love Rocky, but please leave it alone. You ended the series in a high note. Don’t sour it.

As for The Hobbit – I don’t much care about the Lord of The Rings films, but making more than two prequels is really milking that cash cow, and you could destroy the good faith of the audience.

The only MGM film that I’m looking forward to (besides Bond) is The Topkapi Affair, the follow-up to 1999’s The Thomas Crown Affair. There hasn’t been much news since we heard that original RoboCop helmer Paul Verhoeven signed up to direct the Pierce Brosnan starrer. A shame.

What do you folks think? Artistic rebirth or crazy cash-in?

Source: Indiewire