Supporting Stallone in the titular role would be Talia Shire as Adrianna вЂњAdrianвЂќ Pennino, Burt Young as Paulie Pennino, Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, and Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill. Avildsen was tasked with directing the film. Studio executives baulked, but when Stallone refused to blink, they acquiesced, but with a severely reduced budget of $1 million. United Artist producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler loved the script and bought the film rights, with Stallone leveraging its sale with the stipulation that he would star. Entwined within the narrative is a surprisingly tender love story, which served to endear Rocky to audiences as a relatable and fallible hero, one of the common folk whose story informs us that anything is possible. This is a classic underdog narrative, where we bear witness to a determined man, who through perseverance, guile and sheer force of will, overcomes all obstacles to achieve greatness. Over three nights Stallone wrote a quintessential American rags-to-riches story about a down-and-out boxer named Rocky Balboa. Seeking inspiration, Stallone found it in a famous match between heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and underdog no-hoper Chuck Wepner, who somehow managed to take the legendary Ali to fifteen rounds. Ending up on the street was a looming possibility, which focused his resolve to engineer the big career break he needed. Despite having appeared in a few movies вЂ“ including The Lords of Flatbush, Farewell My Lovely, and Death Race 2000 вЂ“ he had only $100 in the bank, and was seeking to sell his dog Butkus because he could not afford to feed it. Sylvester Stallone was enduring hard times in 1975.

Rocky theme song composer