20 facts you might not know about 'Rocky'

Sylvester Stallone was a struggling actor when he wrote the screenplay for “Rocky.” He watched a title fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, a famous fight where Wepner went 15 rounds before getting TKO’ed. Nobody expected Wepner to last that long. Stallone started writing “Rocky” soon thereafter, but he also insisted that the movie and the character were not inspired by Wepner. Wepner didn’t take his word for it and sued Stallone. Eventually they settled for an undisclosed amount.

Stallone’s script was shopped around by his agents, but there were issues because he insisted that he also star. United Artists were interested, but they wanted a star like Robert Redford in the role. Stallone remained steadfast, and eventually United Artists relented.

Stallone got the chance to star in the script he wrote for “Rocky,” but to make that happen they had to make it a low-budget film. He agreed, but that made “Rocky” almost an afterthought for United Artists. The film was made on a budget just a hair over $1 million, and United Artists figured they could take a shot on it, because if it flopped, Martin Scorsese’s “New York, New York” would have recouped the losses.

Originally, they wanted Ken Norton, a real heavyweight boxer, to play Apollo Creed. Norton was no slouch as a boxer, having been a world champion and having beaten Ali in a match. However, Norton didn’t take the role, and Carl Weathers got the part. Weathers had some sporting acumen himself. He played college football and then played in the CFL.

The casting of Adrian went down to the wire. Part of that is the original choice didn’t end up panning out. Carrie Snodgrass got the part, but there was a money dispute, and obviously the budget was tight on this movie. Apparently Susan Sarandon auditioned but was considered too “pretty” for the role. We put “pretty” in quotation marks not as a knock on Sarandon but in defense of Talia Shire, who ended up getting the part.

Norton didn’t play Apollo, but the boxer Joe Frazier was in the film. He makes a cameo appearance. Frazier also purportedly inspired a few of Rocky’s training exploits, including punching meat and running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

To many, Burgess Meredith is Mickey, Rocky’s ornery veteran corner man. However, slightly older fans, or people who grew up watching old TV shows in reruns, have likely seen him in an earlier role that made him famous. Meredith played the Penguin in the ‘60s “Batman” series starring Adam West. It was a very different sort of role, and Meredith doesn’t exactly look the same.

Stallone got some help on the movie from his family members. Brother Frank, also an actor, plays a singer on a street corner. Stallone’s dad plays the guy who rings the bell during the fight. On top of that, his then-wife Sasha did still photography for the movie.

Michael Dorn has an uncredited role as Creed’s bodyguard. You might not recognize him, because in his most famous role he’s under quite a bit of makeup. Dorn is best known for playing Worf, the primary Klingon on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

These days, Steadicams are often used in filmmaking. It allows camera operators to keep a camera’s shot looking, well, steady, even when moving. The Steadicam was used in “Rocky” to film Balboa as he was running. This is perhaps the first famous use of the Steadicam, but it is not the first film it was used for. It was the third, after “Bound for Glory” and “Marathon Man.”

“Rocky” is a fairly dark and down to earth film, especially compared to the sequels. However, it could have been even darker. Originally, Mickey was going to be a racist. More notably in terms of sequels and franchise building, Rocky was going to throw the fight, realizing he didn’t want to be a boxer. Imagine if that ending had been kept.

Rocky bribes a janitor so that he and Adrian can have an ice skating date after hours. That’s a nice romantic gesture, but that’s not why they shot it that way. Originally they wanted the date to happen during normal hours, but the budget was so stretched they couldn’t afford all those extras. This way, they didn’t need any extras.

It’s probably hard to shoot a boxing movie and not have your actors get a little banged up. “Rocky” was no different. By the end of the film, Weathers had banged up his nose, while Stallone had suffered bruised ribs.

Bill Conti was hired to be the composer of the score for “Rocky” on a shoestring budget. That didn’t stop him from really knocking it out of the park. Conti composed the theme song for the film “Gonna Fly Now,” which became a hit. It actually reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week.

Rocky Balboa was an underdog story, and so was this film. United Artists took a gamble on a low-budget movie starring a completely not famous actor and “Rocky” hit huge. It made $117 million in the United States and Canada and $225 million worldwide. Adjusted for inflation, that’s the equivalent of making over a billion dollars these days. Not only was “Rocky” the highest-grossing film of 1976, it was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977,  behind only “Star Wars.” Funnily enough, “New York, New York” ended up being a flop, and it was “Rocky” that balanced out the losses on that film, not the other way around.

“Rocky” found itself receiving 10 Oscar nominations. Stallone was nominated for his acting and for his screenplay. Meredith, Shire, and Burt Young were all nominated for their acting work as well.

Rocky didn’t win against Creed, but “Rocky” did end up on top. It would win three Oscars, Best Film Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture. Over the intervening years some have come to question “Rocky” winning Best Picture. It was up against “Taxi Driver,” “Network,” and “All the President’s Men.” In 2015, “The Hollywood Reporter” polled hundreds of Academy members to have them revote on some old Best Picture decisions. In this revote, “All the President’s Men” won for 1976.

“Rocky” went from underdog story to massive franchise. It spawned five “Rocky” sequels. In one of them Rocky basically ends the Cold War. Then, there are the three “Creed” movies, which star Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed. There has also been talk of a “Rocky” prequel.

Rocky’s training involves him running the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as we noted. Those steps are now synonymous with him. That scene has been parodied a few times over the years. Additionally, there is now a statue of Rocky at the top of those steps. What’s kind of odd is that the statue was commissioned by Stallone himself.

Yes, there’s a “Rocky” musical. It premiered in Hamburg, Germany, of all places, in 2012. In 2014, it debuted on Broadway. It finished its run in August of 2014 after 188 performances.