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Sly Settles "Rocky" Suit
Call it a draw.
Sylvester Stallone has settled a lawsuit brought by Chuck Wepner, the ex-boxer who claimed he wasn't compensated as promised for serving as the inspiration for the Rocky franchise.
Attorneys for both sides filed legal papers last week notifying U.S. District Court Judge Peter Sheridan in Newark that the two had resolved the legal action, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Terms of the agreement were not revealed.
Wepner's suit, originally filed in New Jersey Superior Court in 2003 before being transferred to federal court, sought $15 million from Stallone for improperly using the former heavyweight fighter's life story to promote the Rocky flicks.
Wepner specifically pointed to a 2001 interview on his official Website in which Sly acknowledged that Wepner's 1975 title bout in Ohio against Muhammad Ali served as a "catalyst" for Rocky Balboa.
"What I saw was pretty extraordinary," Stallone said. "I saw a man they call the 'Bayonette Bleeder' who didn't have a chance at all against the greatest fighting machine supposedly that ever lived."
Wepner was a little-known pugilist who accepted an invitation from boxing promoter Don King to challenge reigning champ George Foreman for the title. But Foreman ended up losing to Ali, setting up the Wepner-Ali match.
Defying the odds, the Bayonette Bleeder knocked the Greatest to the mat in the ninth round and almost went the full 15. Ali scored a technical knockout with 19 seconds left in the final round.
Three days later Stallone got cracking on the script for what ultimately became 1976's Rocky, following a scrappy Philly club boxer nicknamed the Italian Stallion who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a heavyweight belt against fictional prizefighter Apollo Creed.
The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and spawned four sequels, which have grossed a combined $969 million worldwide: Rocky II (Rocky wins the heavyweight crown from Creed) Rocky III (Rock lose title to Mr. T, then regains it in a rematch), Rocky IV (Rocky goes to Russia, battles steroid-crazed Commie boxer Dolph Lungren) and Rocky V (Rocky comes out of retirement to fight former protégé Tommy Gunn).
Wepner, now 67, retired from the ring in 1978 after amassing a 42-14 record with two draws. But the success of Rocky allowed him to linger on in the spotlight, making public appearances as "the real Rocky."
He decided to sue after Stallone announced plans to write, direct and star in a sixth installment, Rocky Balboa. The movie, in which our now middle-aged and widowed hero comes out of retirement one last time to take on a new foe, is slated for release Dec. 22.
In court papers, Stallone conceded that Wepner inspired his alter ego, but claimed that he didn't owe Wepner any money because he never promoted the franchise as based on the ex-heavyweight's life.
But Stallone's efforts to get the lawsuit tossed were smacked down two years ago, when a federal judge ruled the case should go to trial.
Stallone, 60, has been hard at work reviving his flagging film career. Aside from Rocky Balboa, he's also planning to reprise his role as damaged Vietnam vet John Rambo in Rambo IV. The film, which finds Rambo looking for justice in Burma, guns its way into theaters May 28, 2007.
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