Earlier this week, Sylvester Stallone listed one of his houses on the market for $130,000,000.00. That’s not surprising. When you mostly write, direct, produce and star in seven sequels to one of the most popular movies in history, money comes with the territory. Lots of it.
At the age of thirty, Stallone was an unemployed actor. No one was interested in hiring him. An accident at birth cut a facial nerve, leaving one side of his face droopy. It also affected his speech, making him look and sound like Fred Flintstone, minus a few dozen IQ points. He sold his wife’s jewelry without her consent. Still broke, he sold his purebred Mastiff for $50 to buy some food. Sylvester Stallone, the man with no education, no prospects, and no dog hated his life. He thought about the thirteen schools that expelled him for behavior problems, shooting arrows out of classroom windows, hacking the Santa display to pieces with a pipe, painting the neighbor’s house black… He relived the shame when, at the age of 15, he was informed by the school administration that his brain was “dormant”. All his life he had been bullied.
Just one opportunity; that’s all he wanted. To prove to himself and the world that he wasn’t “just another bum from the neighborhood”.
Several days passed. As he wallowed in his misery, sulking and feeling sorry for himself, Stallone heard about Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner, going fifteen rounds with the heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali. He later watched the fight on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
This was not possible. Wepner, a mediocre fighter, known for his blood splattering in the faces of people seated in the first three rows rather than his boxing skills, was supposed to lose..badly. Instead, he almost beat the man often considered the greatest boxer of all time.
Stallone was inspired. Although, not a writer, he drafted a script based on a fighter, who against all odds fights the champ. It took him less than a day. Tweaking it took another three or four days.
He gave it to his agent who passed it around. It was great; everybody agreed. A hundred-thousand dollars was offered. James Caan, who had recently played Sonny in The Godfather, would play the lead.
Dead broke, Stallone turned it down.
Three-hundred thousand dollars was offered.
Again, Stallone turned it down. He knew that this was his opportunity. He just wanted to play the part of Rocky. That’s all. Everything else was secondary.
Finally, MGM accepted the offer, giving the unknown Stallone $35,000.00 for the script and the lead. Bets were off. It was doomed for failure, but the risks were insignificant. The entire cost for the making of Rocky came out to less than one-million dollars.
Stallone took the money and bought back his dog, Butkus, to “co-star” with him in the movie.
Rocky ended up grossing over $220,000,000.00. It would turn into a money-making franchise - seven sequels, written, directed and starring Sylvester Stallone. A string of blockbusters, including Rambo, would make Stallone the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.
The biggest surprise about getting rich? Opportunity is everywhere. Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. Get off your butt, and achieve your greatness. It’s there for the taking. Just ask Sylvester Stallone, the real-life Rocky.
