BLOCKBUSTER SUPERSTAR

Six major milestones in Sylvester Stallone’s movie career

The year Sylvester Stallone made his on-screen debut. He appeared in the softcore adult flick, The Party at Kitty and Stud’s, which was later renamed Italian Stallion after he achieved fame in the movie industry. Rocky, in which Stallone played the titular boxer role, was released. The film snagged three Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 49th Academy Awards and earned US$225M in global box office ticket sales. A superstar was born. Stallone released two of the most major movies in his career this year. Rocky III: Eye of the Tiger and Rambo raked in a total of US$237M in box office receipts worldwide. After trying his hand at musicals with New York Cowboy— with minimal success—stallone returned to the silver screen bigger and better. Rocky IV and Rambo II: The Mission were major commercial hits, making him the undisputed star of Hollywood. After the minor success of Rocky Balboa in 2006, Stallone marked his complete return to Hollywood with the runaway hit, The Expendables. He wrote, directed and acted in the flick, which revisited blockbuster action movies of the 1980s and 1990s. He took on the role of Rocky Balboa again, but this time as a trainer to Adonis Creed, a young boxer played by Michael B Jordan. His role in Creed earned Stallone a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.