Sylvester Stallone: Corporate studios killed the "classic movie"

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Brian Sozzi (0:26)

Rocky was just a huge risk. Are studios today taking those same type of risks?

Sylvester Stallone (0:31)

The big corporate ones, they've got themselves into a real predicament because what they think works, you know, the $400 million production. But if it doesn't work, heads are going to roll.

Brian Sozzi (0:43)

I mean, you made up just a massive bet on yourself. Would you make that same bet today?

Sylvester Stallone (0:49)

That's a very profound question. Today, at my age, me?

Brian Sozzi (1:00)

Sylvester Stallone is one of the most unlikely business success stories in the history of American entertainment. A kid from a cold water flat in Hell's Kitchen who turned down $300,000 for a screenplay because he refused to let anyone else play the character he created and in doing so made one of the greatest high risk, high reward business bets in Hollywood history, building a franchise empire spanning Rocky Rambo, The Expendables and now Tulsa King. That has generated well over a billion dollars in combined box office licensing and streaming revenue across five decades. Stallone is still full systems go coming out season four of Tulsa King on Power Mode Plus and releasing a new memoir called The Steps. It's a real honor to welcome Mr. Stallone for this special episode of Power Players.

Welcome. Thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it.

Sylvester Stallone (1:47)

Well, thank you, Ryan. It's nice to talk about something that you enjoy.

Brian Sozzi (1:52)

And I enjoy, I watch every season of Tulsa King. I'm always traveling, but I watch it at all assorted times. And I've become hooked on Dwight Manfredi.

How is he going to be different in this season compared to the prior seasons? You have made, I mean, this is what you do. You unlock like new layers in these characters each year.

Sylvester Stallone (2:14)

Well, of course, the opposition has to be almost insurmountable. And that creates the story. I just don't think you ever want your protagonist going downhill or it's too easy. You must be fighting gravity. And while coming back to New York, this, we're talking, well, are we talking about the fourth season coming up? See, I'm still...

Coming up. I'm one season ahead of you. Oh my God. Well, the season four that's about to come up, we are now presented with a whole different kind of group of bad guys. And it's something that also deals with technology today, as you know, with AI, and just new personalities that I have no sway over.

And also I'm dealing with some unforeseen tragedy.

So it's going to be, I think, quite good. But then again, I'm being haunted by New York. You have gangsters coming after me. And that's the key because just when you think he's got it together, no, not at all. So I think we have like three levels of dark drama suspense, like three major villains. So it's going to be great.

Brian Sozzi (3:34)

Do you still, when you are thinking about unlocking the next chapter in Dwight Mann and Freddie's life, do you still go back to how you did it when you were creating Rocky? I mean, you're locked in a room, blinds are shut, you're just ignoring everything.

Sylvester Stallone (3:49)

This is not exactly an earth shattering secret, but I get up at like five every morning at 445 and study my lines. Because your brain is fresh and it's the last thing I want to do.

So if I can do that, you know what I mean? That's the whole point to me is doing something you don't want to do because the end results are going to be worth it rather than studying, oh yeah, let me watch the football game and look at the live football game.

Listen, I'm tempted, but that's pretty much, so I put a lot of work in the sequels, because you got away with the first time is easy, in a sense, because you're coming, there's no baggage. Now, to top that, to top that, to top that, people don't understand sequels are 10 times harder than the original. They really are, because you've lost the element of surprise. So Dwight has to have, everything around him has to be magnetized, magnified, that's from getting up too early.