Sylvester Stallone has done some of the most incredible movies and he is most iconically known for the role of the titular character in the Rocky franchise. The actor has worked hard to achieve everything he now holds near and dear to him. His fame, fortune, and respect are all earned. He once stood on top of Hollywood and still holds a strong position with the same.
Out of the many times he has found himself in a tight spot, the actor regretted making one decision that could have changed the course of an entire franchise. One decision made in Rocky IV could have impacted both the Rocky franchise and the Creed franchise; benefiting both of them dearly.
Sylvester Stallone Regretted Making One Impactful Decision
Rocky IV had been a movie that stayed in every fan’s heart because of one scene in particular. The death of Apollo Creed. A simple fight that was supposed to be between Rocky and Ivan Drago escalated into a fight between Drago and Creed. The iconic character could not anticipate his opponent’s strength and met his end in the middle of the ring. This particular scene created a series of what-ifs in Sylvester Stallone’s mind.
“It was foolish. I thought I needed that kind of springboard to project the drama on this really great powerful velocity forward… [If Apollo had survived], we would have seen a different side of him.”
The actor kept thinking about the possibility of how things would have been different if Creed hadn’t died. He could have just been in a wheelchair and everyone would have experienced a completely different side of him. He could have been like a mentor and a guide to the people and Rocky would not have lost his best friend. Moreover, the character of Apollo Creed could have also been a part of the Creed franchise, accompanying his son, Adonis Creed on his own journey. Not choosing to let the character live was something Stallone regretted greatly.
Sylvester Stallone Humiliated Bruce Willis
Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis were set to collaborate for Expendables 3 when the latter decided to leave the film altogether. The two worked together for the prior two films of the series but things became dodgy between them for the third installment. The actor wanted higher pay and refused to work. The movie involved the actor working for only four days and he was set to be paid $3 Million. However, the actor wanted $1 Million more.
“Greedy and lazy… A sure formula for career failure.”
Stallone replaced the actor without a second though, getting Harrison Ford in the mix instead. He later called Willis lazy and greedy. Willis later confirmed that it was not just the money that the actor was bothered about and had other reasons for backing out. He was bored of action movies and wanted to step away from the genre. Luckily, both the actors patched things up in the end.
Source: Far Out Magazine
