Sylvester Stallone Intended To Film Rocky Balboa Sooner Than He Did

The toughest critic of 1990's "Rocky V" is the film's star himself, Sylvester Stallone. Over the years, Stallone has been extremely vocal about his dislike of the "Rocky" franchise's fifth installment, which follows Rocky Balboa (Stallone) as he mentors upcoming boxer Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison). On "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross," when asked to rate each film, he gave "Rocky V" zero out of five stars.

Stallone's disdain for "Rocky V," and his desire to end the franchise on a higher note, was what compelled him to make 2006's "Rocky Balboa." Though he intended to release the sixth installment sooner, this proved impossible. "It ['Rocky V'] just didn't leave anyone with any sense of hope. It was very reflective of where I was at the time, so it bothered me," Stallone told EW. "And then around '96, I thought, 'Oh, I want to approach Hollywood with the idea. And they said, basically, never. I kept going back and visiting and there was a certain studio head that wanted no part of it."

But once MGM was eventually sold to Sony, Stallone was given the green light to move forward with the project, largely from Revolution Studios founder Joe Roth.

"Rocky Balboa" took longer than expected to get off the ground. Yet, according to Sylvester Stallone, the delay actually worked out for the best. At first, Stallone had his mind set on creating the sixth "Rocky" installment at the age of 55 to chronicle the trials of his generation. However, the project didn't come to fruition until he was 60.

When asked by Total Film if "Rocky Balboa" would've been different had he done it at 55, Stallone said, "Completely different. The irony is that it turned out better now. The past four years have meant a lot to me. I think my writing got better, because I spent more time at home and was more relaxed."

Unlike "Rocky V," which boasts a 31 percent rating on the Tomatometer, "Rocky Balboa" is standing strong with 77 percent. Many critics agreed that Stallone accomplished what he set out to do: end the "Rocky" story on a high note. Paul Byrnes, of the Sydney Morning Herald, said, "Stallone wanted this movie to restore dignity to his greatest character. He succeeds, better than anyone might have expected."