Today in movie history Jan 9th The film “Rocky” was made

1976 – One of the best underdog stories of all-time, the Best Picture winning “Rocky” started filming on this day. The story of club fighter Rocky Balboa going toe-to-toe with heavyweight champion Apollo Creed came to writer Sylvester Stallone after seeing a similar 15-round bout between Muhammad Ali and unknown club fighter Chuck Wepner. Stallone was so inspired that he banged out the first draft in three and a half days. He’d only starred in one flop up to that point, yet Stallone sold the script to producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff on the condition that he play “The Italian Stallion”. Though they would have preferred to cast a bigger name — like James Caan, Ryan O’Neal, or Burt Reynolds — the producers finally relented, offering Stallone 10% of the gross. “Rocky” was shot in 28 days on a tight budget of $1 million. Thanks to the story’s incredible heart, “Rocky” was a surprise hit, grossing over $225 million worldwide, and making Stallone a pretty darn good rags-to-riches story in his own right.One of my favorite films hands down!