When this movie came out I thought I remember reading, in Rolling Stone perhaps, that Stallone and Esztehas almost came to blows about screenwriting credit. I believe Eszterhas was taking credit, when Stallone said it was his script, and so these two guys almost got into a fist fight one day while quarreling about this. Does anybody remember this story and the facts behind it?
shareI've only heard there was a lot of friction on set, and even afterwards. Its in a Stallone book I have. I also read that Stallone was difficult to work with from several people on set.
shareI've read Eszterhas' autobiography, and he said he wrote the script, and the Stallone wanted to do a rewrite, which is what started their feud. I think they were were a few changes though, however one of them as huge.
SPOILER!
Eszterhas wrote the ending where Stallone's character gets killed (which is what the final film has), but Stallone wanted to keep the character alive, which he said was because audiences wouldn't want to see him die. They eventually got Stallone to change his mind when he offered that he'd only do one take where his character dies, and if it went ok, they'd keep it in, and if it didn't work, then they'd have to use Stallone's ending. What an egomaniac!
What was funny was that according to Eszterhas' book, the feud mainly seemed like a media thing. Both Eszterhas and Stallone would talk trash about each other, but never actually met in person until after the filming was done!
According to Eszterhas' book the thing with Stallone's rewrite went like this:
They were expecting a huge hit and Eszterhas got a lot of money for the movie's novelization. Problem was, the book wouldn't sell without Stallone's face on the cover and according to Stallone's contract he had to accept the cover. Stallone's people implied that their client would accept only if Eszterhas agreed to share the screenplay credit. Eszterhas agreed.
So it's hard to say if Stallone actually did any work on the script.
According to the interview with Jewison on the Blu-Ray, Stallone wrote the romantic scenes between him and Melinda Dillion. If you watch the movie now those scenes have a real Rocky and Adrianne feel to them.
shareAnthony Kiedis had a less-than-fun time on the set since Stallone wasn't friendly.
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