You want a piece of Rambo?
Sylvester Stallone to auction off classic props and costumes
LOS ANGELES — Sylvester Stallone is parting with memorabilia from the Rocky and Rambo movies, but he’s keeping the two characters alive onscreen. The 69-year-old entertainer recently announced that he’ll put hundreds of props and costumes from his 40-year career up for auction in October, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting military charities. Some of the items Stallone has agreed to sell include Rambo’s army jacket and Rocky’s gloves, robe and boxing trunks.
Stallone isn’t saying goodbye to the characters. Instead, he’s set to become Rocky Balboa again onscreen in Creed this fall, and is working on another Rambo instalment.
Stallone said today’s fascination with cinematic superheroes leaves little room for the “lone wolf” or “man against the odds” characters he likes to play.
“That’s kind of why I’m still around, because I embrace that and it’s become kind of a rarity and there’s not many of us left,” he said in a recent interview. “Will that come around again? I don’t think so. Not in its purest form … So I embrace it and that’s why I want to continue to do it until my body explodes.”
First up is Creed, by writerdirector Ryan Coogler. Stallone is Rocky, but this time he’s coach to a young star boxer played by Michael B. Jordan.
When Coogler first approached Stallone about the film, he declined, saying he felt Rocky had “run his course.”
After making Fruitvale Station, the filmmaker returned to discuss the role again.
“I’ve never seen someone who was so persistent,” Stallone said.
At work now on a screenplay for a new Rambo film, Stallone admitted, “It really is not fun.”
He still thinks the character is compelling — “Where Rocky is the height of optimism, this guy is the height of pessimism,” he said — but finds writing more challenging than any other artistic discipline.
“I’m torn because the last one was so satisfying and hit all the buttons,” he said. “The idea is: How do you top that? Or do you try to top that?”
While fans are waiting for the new films, they can bid on pieces of Rocky’s and Rambo’s past when Heritage Auctions moderates the Stallone sale on Oct. 14 and 15.