Rocky Sono Io, in theaters from December 31, tells how Sylvester Stallone fought to sell to the studios the screenplay of the first Rocky, on the condition that they let him play the lead, even renouncing offers that would have saved him from poverty. The one to bring to the screen a young Sly is Anthony Ippolito: if, while watching him in the trailer, you were astonished by the resemblance, know that Stallone himself was no less, as he recounted at the 92nd Street Y in New York, where he was promoting his new autobiography “The Steps“.
Sylvester Stallone on Rocky Sono Io: “I told my daughter, it’s unbelievable!”
Sylvester Stallone, 80 years old as of early July, remains exceptionally active with the series Tulsa King and soon also a guest on Frisco King with Samuel L. Jackson (always under the guidance of Taylor Sheridan), has just released a new autobiography, “The Steps“. In that context, he was asked about his reaction to Rocky Sono Io, the upcoming biopic by Peter Farrelly with Anthony Ippolito, a near-perfect reincarnation of a young Sylvester. Sly says with irony: “At first I was a bit perplexed, I said: I’m not dead yet, you’re not jumping the gun, are you? Then I watched the video with this kid and for a moment I really thought I was him, in a couple of shots. I went to my daughter and said: it’s unbelievable! […] I said to them: I will sit and watch, as a spectator. I spoke with the kid, I told him: if you have questions, I am here. That’s all. But they did it all by themselves. I thought: do I really talk like that? Now I understand, now I understand…”
In the same moment, Stallone also commented on his career, revealing that he has an open channel with Amazon MGM Studios for a possible re-cut of Rocky V, the film that he calls “a thorn in the side“, for not having directed it. Today it wouldn’t break through as it did in the Seventies: “There is a completely different ideology, a different mindset. Actors look different and perform differently, the same themes wouldn’t be on my wavelength, today action is a bit anachronistic. […] But if they did The Godfather today, casting would be impossible. The premise made sense in that era, that’s what makes it unique. Too often when they remake they forget that a film is based on the social climate, on the imagery of the period, on the ethnicities, on everything that existed in a given era.”
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