JoBlo Looks to SZ

JoBlo.com recently posted a piece about Sly in Brazil scouting locations and talking with Juliana Paes for a potential role in "The Expendables." Did you happen to check out JoBlo's source for the item? - Craig

SZ Exclusve Report: Rambo Premiere

SZoner, SlyStalloneFan sent in these pictures and the report that follows:

I just got back from the Red Carpet Premiere of RAMBO in Las Vegas. I had such a great time there and was honored to see Sly "my idol" again. I had the chance to see many of the stars playing in the Rambo film including, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham Mctavish, Jake La Botz and others. I also saw Jason Bigs, Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz. Then the TERMINATOR himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was there. I totally did not expect to see him but it was really great. And of course the main man himself Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was really nice to the crowd. He answered a lot of questions and took his time with the press. He was in incredible shape and so was his beautiful wife Jennifer Flavin. Anyway, thats just a little story of me being at the Rambo Premiere. I hope you like the pictures.
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Thanks to SlyStallone Fan for the great report and photos!! - Craig

SZ Exclusive: PH Opening Coverage

StalloneZoner, Randy Rousseau was able to attend the recent Planet Hollywood opening in Las Vegas. Not only did he and his family get to go, but they also met several celebrities including Sly!

Randy was especially excited to hear that John Rambo will premiere at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood on January 24th! Hopefully Randy will be able to attend and send us back pictures and a report!

Randy's kids were able to get a photo with former N'Sync band member, Dancing with the Stars celeb and host of The Singing Bee, Joey Fatone!

Criss Angel was on hand for the festivities.

The great Sugar Ray Leonard posed for a shot with Randy and his son!

Milio Ventimiglia ["Rocky Balboa" and tv's smash hit Heroes] signed autographs...

... and posed for photos!

And of course Sly was there to kick off the festivities [He introduced Earth, Wind and Fire before their concert]...

... posed for photos with fans...

... spoke with friends and fans...

... and signed tons of autographs...

Thanks to Randy for another great StalloneZone exclusive! - Craig

SZoner @ AFI "Rocky" Screening

SZoner, Joshua Tapia sent StalloneZone an exclusive summary of his experience at the AFI "Rocky" screening:

Hi Craig, Just wanted to write in and share my incredible experience at the AFI 40th Anniversary screening of Rocky. Sorry I could not provide some photos but they were restricted and security was very tight. If we were caught with a camera we would be ejected from the theater.

So after sitting in line for hours and finally getting into the theater lobby we were able to get our hands on a AFI 40th Anniversary collectors book. Finally as we all sat down in our designated seats a member of the AFI entered the room to tell us that all the Film Legends were in a theater for a photo shoot and that they would soon be coming in for the presentation. It was at this time he told us of the surprise guest who would introduce Mr Stallone....none other than Talia Shire. The crowd responded with cheers and applause.

Finally around 7:30pm Talia Shire entered the room to applause. She took the stand and talked about how while making the film they never really said it but they all thought they were making something special. After a few more words she introduced the man himself Sylvester Stallone. As Stallone emerged from the entrance the crowd stood up to give him a standing ovation. Stallone took stepped up to the podium and thanked everyone for coming. He shared a few stories from the production about how when they showed up for the Ice Rink scene that he was told all the extras were not available, he also told us about how Talia Shire had the flu and he knew when he went in for that first kiss he knew he'd be sick the next day but he was so lost in the moment that he just forgot everything and kissed her.

Stallone finished his speech and thanked everyone again as we applauded him. As he made his way out a gentleman ran out of his seat with a copy of Stallone's last book SLY MOVES. This caused several other people to jump from there seat with stuff to autograph. Stallone being the great guy he is stopped and signed everything that was put in front of him. I saw this as my chance, i got up from my seat and made my through the crowd. As I did this the theater started to lower the lights so that people would sit down. Right before he exited i was able to walk up to him. As i approached him he looked at my hands as if he expected me to have something for him to sign. I just stuck out my hand and said "I would just like shake your hand and thank you for coming." Sly shook my hand and thanked me.

The lights went down and we watched the film. This was one of the best film going experiences i have ever had. Second would be last year when thanks to StalloneZone I got to see Rocky Balboa a week before it was released in Tampa and if not for StalloneZone I would of not of known about the AFI screening. Thanks Craig and keep up the good work. Joshua Tapia
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Thanks for the write-up Josh. What a cool experience! - Craig

SZ Exclusive "John Rambo" Photo

The picture above is a StalloneZone exclusive photo taken on location during the filming of "John Rambo". - Craig

Ultimate Fan Contest Winner

I recently received an e-mail from Dan Nobel who had this to say:

Craig –

I just wanted to say thanks for the Rocky fan site contest and selecting my website as the winner. I am a huge Rocky fan and the autographed boxing gloves are awesome. These are my first pieces of Rocky memorabilia so I am very excited. Just need to figure out how to display them. I attached a picture of them. Thanks so much!!

Daniel Noble

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Thanks to Dan for the "thanks" and for sharing the photo with us! Dan's collection is off to a great start. It'll be interesting to see how it grows. - Craig

SZoners Promote "Rocky Balboa"

SZoner, Ernest "Jazzman" Resendes sent in the picture above and the message below:

Hey guys,

A local paper just did a piece on our whole Vegas/Boston Q&A experience. Writer Rick Snizek was doing a story on a local musician who just happened to be my buddy Bob's uncle. Bob mentioned the unbelievable RB experience and Rick immediately wanted to do a story.

Here's the pic they used and some excerpts. The photo was taken at the end pf our last day on the set as we were leaving. Sly is between us in the far distance looking over fight footage with Frank and the crew.

BRUSH WITH FAME
City natives share screen time with Stallone By Rick Snizek

"We all have obstacles to overcome," Resendes says, noting how much a labor of love the film, which took in more than $51 million at the box office in its first two weeks alone, was for Stallone. He made this picture on a comparatively shoestring budget of $24 million, with Hollywood uncertain of how Rocky Balboa's saga would play to a new generation.

"It's defied a lot of people's expectations," Resendes adds, feeling that Stallone's intended soulful approach to living one's life resonates with audiences young and old. In one scene in the movie, unfortunately one that did land on the cutting room floor, Resendes actually rushes out of his seat at the end of the bout thrusting both hands into the air in victory to congratulate the champ as he makes his way from the ring.

Although the pair came in very close proximity to Stallone during the filming, they didn't get a chance to speak to him about their admiration for his work. But little did they know at the time that such an opportunity would present itself before the film would be released.

The experience was indeed a dream come true for Resendes and Manuels, one which they say has inspired them to push even harder to achieve their goals in life.

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Thanks to Jazz for sharing! - Craig

SZone Exclusive: More Philly Photos!

SZoner, Bridget is back with more exclusive photographs of Sly and Burt Young at the Philly Premiere of "Rocky Balboa." - Craig

SZ Exclusive: Rocky vs Dixon

SZoner, Bridget is back with more behind the scenes photos from the Vegas filming!

Thanks to Bridget for sharing! - Craig

SZoners Unite for Viewing

SZoner, Christopher aka "Slyguy" and his son, Ajay, met up with SZoner and "Sly Artist", Bill Pruitt before going to a showing of "Rocky Balboa" on December 26th. Another SZoner, MTotry [not pictured] joined them for the viewing. Needless to say, they all enjoyed the movie. ; )

- Craig

Craig's Rocky Statue

Over the years I've picked up quite a few cool Stallone-related items for my personal collection. When I graduated college my wife bought me the LeRoy Neiman "Rocky" print. I have a personalized autographed picture from Sly. I have the rare Franklin Mint Rocky statue. I have original art from some of my favorite artists doing their take on Sly. Over the Christmas holiday I received a new addition to my collection that I'm still in awe of. It's my A. Thomas Schomberg "Rocky" replica statue!

As most SZoners know, Mr. Schomberg was the artist who created the original Rocky statue that was used in "Rocky III." Sly personally chose Mr. Schomberg after seeing [and purchasing] some of his work. Over the years Mr. Schomberg had been approached about releasing a Rocky collector statue, but the deals were never quite right. Mr. Schomberg wanted to insure two things: 1] That the statues were quality pieces and 2] There would be a version affordable by all fans! This past year everything came together... the 30th anniversary of "Rocky"... Sly writing, directing and starring in the final chapter of "Rocky Balboa" and MGM teaming with Sly and Mr. Schomberg to release three versions of the Rocky statues... all of them quality pieces and one for every price range!

I couldn't wait for mine to arrive. I was worried that it might get damaged in transit [but more importantly, I justed want to HAVE it!]. As you can see from the packaging, I shouldn't have worried. It was securely packed, boxed, bagged and surrounded by styrofoam. It arrived in pristine condition.

And what a thing of beauty! The photos here [and on Mr. Schomberg's website] really can't do the statue justice. Perhaps it's because the statue is so well done and the photo can't truly capture the little details that the 3-dimensional sculpture has. Or maybe it's the fact that the statue symbolizes everything that we admire in Rocky Balboa. Either way, I know that it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it and it will be the cornerstone of my collection for a long time to come.

Several SZoners said that they were planing to get a statue. If you did, please feel free to send me a photo and I'll post it on the site. It'll be interesting to see just how many places and how far Rocky has traveled around the world! And if you haven't got yours yet, you still can. Just click HERE and tell 'em the SZ sent ya! - Craig

StalloneZone 2007

As we enter our eleventh year, I felt that it was time to "Take You Back." When I first started the StalloneZone in 1996 it was a little site on America On-Line. Over the years the StalloneZone

It's been a heck of a ride, with the last year being the wildest yet. Not only did Sly return to his roots and win his fight to bring "Rocky Balboa" back with the send-off we've always dreamed, but SZoners got a boost when I was contacted by Sly's reps and MGM and asked to run the official Rocky Balboa Blog! We were given first looks, a contest and created connections with a ton of cool people. Sage and Frank Stallone provided us with some of their personal photos. SZoners from around the world came together at "Rocky Balboa" filmings in Las Vegas and Philly. More SZoners than ever came to the site. People, from around the world who would have otherwise never met, became friends. The StalloneZone community had never been stronger!

John Beatty agreed to assist me once again with a new look for the SZ. After his bang-up job on the official Rocky Balboa Blog, how could I turn him down.

So here we are... heading into year eleven with a new look and an old attitude. Sylvester Stallone is the man. Stallone fans are the greatest in the world. The best is yet to come.

- Craig Zablo has continued to grow and attract the best fans in the world.

PS - The SZ Forum will maintain links to the "old" SZ sections until the new pages are completed!