‘Rocky’: The Story Behind Sylvester Stallone’s Million Dollar Script

How it was an underdog story of its own behind the scenes. Not many struggling screenwriters would turn down $360,000. It’s a huge sum of money even now, but 50 years ago? That amount would have been worth over $2 million today. And yet that’s exactly what Sylvester Stallone did. The struggling actor had just a few credits to his name — mostly extra roles on some TV shows, as well as a part in the coming-of-age comedy film The Lords of Flatbush, with future Fonz Henry Winkler.