Rocky - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Rocky or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Rocky

[gabriel]

Warren Beatty claimed he was offered the lead role.

[kristen]

Shamrock Meats was called Eastern Packing in the original script.

[stephanie]

The first sports film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

[lena]

John G. Avildsen was so excited about the film, he reduced his usual salary to about 50,000 dollars, and a percentage of the profits.

[alyssa]

Cher was considered for the role of Adrian.

[morris]

Burgess Meredith got the part of Mickey, because the other actors they considered for the role were insulted that Sylvester Stallone wanted them to read for it.

[nora]

According to Mickey, women weaken legs.

[cameron]

Some people have speculated that Han Solo's "Great shot kid, that was one in a million!" from Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) was a nod to Rocky ("a million-one-shot"), released just half a year earlier. Although the highest-grossing film of 1976, Star Wars would go on to topple Rocky at the box office just moments after its release. Additionally, Stallone was one of a handful of macho 70s actors (Alongside Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and John Travolta) who auditioned for the part of Han.

[charlie]

In the original script, the conversation between Rocky and Gazzo, when Gazzo gives Rocky the money for training expenses, was extended. Gazzo asks Rocky if he has plans for the money he'll be getting from the Creed fight, and he suggests Rocky consider putting it into the stock market.

[stephanie]

Marie's classic line "screw you creepo" was "fuck you creepo" in the original script.

[carl]

According to Sylvester Stallone, the role of Paulie was originally going to be Adrian's Jewish mother, but was later changed to being her Italian brother.

[lena]

John G. Avildsen didn't always find Sylvester Stallone quite so sympathetic. They got into frequent arguments over certain scenes during shooting in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, but usually resolved their differences with Stallone giving in to Avildsen's greater experience and expertise.

[francisco]

Frank Stallone, Sylvester Stallone's father, has a cameo playing the man who rings the opening bell of the Creed vs. Balboa fight. Sylvester's younger brother, Frank Stallone, also has a cameo playing the lead singer of the street band (and is also 'The Bum from the Dock' that passes Rocky and Adrian on the way home from their date).

[miriam]

Al Silvani, who plays Rocky's cut man, had played the cut man to another boxer named Rocky 20 years earlier, in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). Rocky Graziano was played by Paul Newman and was considered his breakthrough role, just like Rocky (1976) was for Sylvester Stallone.

[jamie]

The only film in the whole saga not to feature any footage of Rocky's end fight opponent in training.

[veronica]

Rocky's address in the movie is 1818 East Tusculum Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19134. When Rocky does his famous run to the Philadelphia Art Museum (located at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130), if he took the most direct route there, he would run 5.29 miles.

[elmer]

Originally, real life boxer Kenny Norton was offered the role of Apollo Creed, but because he was 230 pounds, it was felt he would dwarf Stallone too much, and a smaller man was sought.

[jamie]

John G. Avildsen can be seen as the cameraman, and Cinematographer James Crabe plays the lighting man for Rocky's television interview in the meat-house.

[dustin]

The iconic shot of Rocky running up the steps of Philadelphia Art Museum came about because of Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown. Brown, who was from Philadelphia, was getting ready to fly to Los Angeles to try to sell his newly invented Steadicam device. He had shot some test footage following people around corridors and from room to room, but he wanted to be able to shoot something that even the most experienced filmmakers would look at and wonder how he did it. He came up with the idea for his girlfriend to run up and down the museum steps while he followed close behind her. Using this footage, Brown sold the camera on his first day in Los Angeles and, several months later, John G. Avildsen, who was prepping Rocky, saw the footage and felt that a similar type of shot would be perfect for the film. As such, Avildsen hired Brown and the Steadicam, and as Brown explains, several months after he had run up the steps filming his girlfriend, he was running back up the steps filming Sylvester Stallone.