Though the studio was initially interested in proven stars such as James Caan, Burt Reynolds and Ryan O’Neal – and in fact offered writer Sylvester Stallone $275,000 for the rights to his script if he’d walk away – the young up-and-comer was adamant that he play the title role in ROCKY (1976), and the rest is history. The film fought its way onto no fewer than eight of the American Film Institute’s lists celebrating excellence in American cinema – including both the original and 10th anniversary editions of the greatest films of all time, as well as the most thrilling and most inspiring. Rocky Balboa himself was ranked among the art form’s great heroes, with his love-conquers-all quote at the end of the match – “Yo, Adrian!” – counted among cinema’s most memorable lines. ROCKY was also named #2 among the greatest sports movies, with the rousing “Gonna Fly Now” theme also appearing on the list of cinema’s great songs.
Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about ROCKY.
