Once you see the word "Rocky" there is one thing, and one thing alone, that pops into your brain — the theme song. But we are going to have to ask you to put the earworm aside to focus on these cool facts about the franchise.
This must be some kind of a record
Sylvester Stallone completed the first draft of Rocky in only three and a half days. Stallone had only $106 to his name at the time, and wrote the draft in a marathon screenwriting session, over the course of 84 hours.
Taking their fight seriously
The first fight in the original Rocky movie between the protagonist and Apollo Creed was rehearsed for an entire month, and each rehearsal was shot on Super 8 so that the actors could study their movements.
Stallone almost never starred in the movie
United Artists offered to buy the rights to the screenplay from Stallone for $340 dollars — this meant that he would not star in the movie. But finally, they relented when realizing that they could work with a much lower budget if they had Stallone on board.
The King was a fan
Rocky was a critical and commercial success. The movie won a number of famous fans, including Charlie Chaplin and Elvis Presley. Months before his death, Presley even invited Stallone to watch the movie with him in his Memphis home, which the latter politely turned down.
Patron of the arts
After the filming of Rocky III concluded, Stallone donated the iconic 8'6, 2000-pound statue of Rocky Balboa to the Philadelphia Spectrum Museum of Art. In 2006, it was placed on the base of the museum's steps, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original movie's release.
Rocky the immortal
Stallone's first script for Rocky V had the main character die at the end of the movie, during the street fight scene. However, the studio refused to accept this version of the script, claiming that, "like Batman, Superman, and James Bond, Rocky can never die".
