Portal:Philadelphia/Music, Arts & Culture/October 2006

Rocky is a 1976 motion picture written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as an underdog boxer. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Italian-American "Rocky Balboa", a slightly dull-witted but good-hearted "collection agent" for a loan shark in Philadelphia with a penchant for boxing, who gets a shot at the world heavyweight title. It was directed by John G. Avildsen who won an Oscar for his direction. The final fight scene in the movie was inspired by a real-life fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Made for a budget of only $1.1 million dollars and shot in a record 28 days the film went on to make over US $117.2 million at the box office and spawn five sequels.