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How Rocky was the movie the studio DIDN'T want you to see
EXCLUSIVE: How Rocky was the movie the studio DIDN'T want you to see - bosses tried to stop hit because 'who would pay for an unknown guy who has a rough life as a fighter and an ugly duckling girl?'
- Irwin Winkler, producer of Rocky reveals how classic movie was almost knocked out before it was even filmed
- He took gamble on unknown Sylvester Stallone to write a script and fell in love with it - but studio bosses wanted nothing to do with it
- 'Why would we pay for a movie that starred an unknown guy who has a rough life as a fighter and has a love story with an ugly duckling girl?'
- Winkler had to use contract loophole to get it made on budget so small the cast and crew shared one trailer (and one toilet)
- Even when it was made he feared scathing New York Times review would have it on the ropes - but movie became massive hit and won three Oscars
- Winkler credits Stallone for creating blockbuster franchise which now has Creed - effectively Rocky VII - on release
On the ropes before the bell rang: The producer of Rocky has revealed the epic struggle to get Rocky to the big screen - and paid tribute to Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the script and insisted on playing the boxer
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t was the inspirational rags-to-riches story of a washed up small-time boxer who landed a million to one shot to fight the heavyweight champion of the world.
Rocky became an instant hit earning $225 million in global box office receipts making it the highest grossing film of 1976.
But today the producer behind the blockbuster reveals how the movie was just as unlikely a success as Balboa himself - and that it overcame blows from the very start which would have put lesser movies on the floor permanently.
Irwin Winkler told Daily Mail Online how he battled a studio so reluctant to make Rocky that it offered to buy the script to stop it being produced, made the movie on a budget so small the cast and crew shared Sylvester Stallone's trailer's toilet, and then had to overcome a critical mauling at the hands of the New York Times.
Today the Rocky franchise is in its seventh incarnation as Creed, the story of how Rocky Balboa trains Michael B Jordan's character to follow in his footsteps.
But in 1975 it was the brainchild of Winkler and Stallone - the actor he met by chance during casting calls for another movie who tried to convince him to make another script he had written.
Stallone was facing tough times. He had a pregnant wife, $106 to his name, sold his dog for cash and appeared to be losing out on his dreams of getting a big break in Hollywood.
He was only landing bit parts as criminals or muggers and even appeared in a soft core adult film
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'Bingo': 'I felt the earh move,' Stallone told Winkler when they auditioned Talia Shire for the role of Adrianna 'Adrian' Pennino, after being unable to afford Carrie Sodgrass.
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The movie then opened in several more theaters and within a few weeks Rocky was a stand out hit, which then garnered 10 Oscar nominations, winning three - best picture, editing and director.
Within a few weeks United Artists, now delighted that the movie had made over $225 million worldwide, called Stallone back for a sequel.
Stallone demanded one million dollars salary with five percent of the gross.
After months of stalling they caved in, Rocky 2 was made for $7 million and grossed over $200 million worldwide with Stallone as director, star and writer.
Winkler and Stallone oversaw huge financial success with 1982's Rocky III and IV, although he almost died in the ring with Dolph Lundgren.
The star spent five days in hospital intensive care when Dolph's punch to his chest dislodged his heart.
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New incarnation: In Creed it is Michael B Jordan who plays the boxing hopeful, coached by a lonely Rocky Balboa. Jordan's character is the secret son of Apollo Creed, Rocky's late friend and former rival
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The new Creed movie sees a lonely Rocky - played by Stallone, now 69 - agree to mentor and train one-time rival, then best friend Apollo Creed's illegitimate son, played by Michael B. Jordan as he bids to become a champion. (Creed was killed off in Rocky IV)
'If you look at the credits, Sly is billed second in line to Michael B. Jordan. So it's really Michael's starring movie.
'Sly plays an incredible supporting part, but he is really an incredible actor, you have never seen Sly act like this. He really is top gun.'
Winkler even reckons that Oscar success may come again forty years on from Stallone's first nomination.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz3u3Ohuorz
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