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...

ROCKY is ranked on both AFI’s original and 10th anniversary lists of the greatest American films of all time! Rocky Balboa punches his way to #7 in the pantheon of AFI’s greatest screen heroes, and the film lands at #4 as one of the most inspiring movies ever. And the ROCKY theme song – “Gonna Fly…