Where to watch Rocky (1976)

Trivia & production notes

• Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky in three and a half days after watching Muhammad Ali defeat Chuck Wepner in March 1975.
• Henry Winkler, who later became famous as The Fonz, used his status as a major television star to convince ABC to sell back the Rocky script rights so Stallone could direct it as a feature film rather than a TV movie.
• Multiple major studios rejected the Rocky script because Stallone refused to allow anyone else to play the title character.
• Ralph Bakshi turned down the chance to direct Rocky because he did not want to leave animation work.
• Ken Norton, the real-life boxer who inspired the character Apollo Creed, was initially sought for the role but declined, leading to Carl Weathers being cast instead.
• Talia Shire was cast as Adrian after auditioning, with both Susan Sarandon and Cher having previously auditioned for the role but being rejected for other reasons.
• Stallone's father, brother, and first wife all appeared in minor roles during filming due to the film's low budget.
• The Steadicam, then a newly invented technology, was used to film Rocky's Philadelphia street training sequences and the museum steps run, though the film was actually the third to use the device rather than the first.
• The original script was darker in tone and ended with Rocky throwing his fight, but these elements were altered during filming.
• Carl Weathers and Sylvester Stallone both sustained real injuries during the final fight scene, with Weathers breaking his nose and Stallone bruising his ribs.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Rocky, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.