No matter how many films are spawned out of the Rocky franchise, they always manage to capture our full attention. To be perfectly honest, Sylvester Stallone could put out a Rocky movie a year, and we would be front row centre for every film.

Unfortunately for us, Stallone definitely couldn't put out a Rocky film a year. First of all, that would be impossible to do from a film-making standpoint. The time it takes to write a script, cast actors, film everything, and then go through post-production, it simply isn't possible. But more importantly to this post, the physical toll the movies took on Stallone were apparently excruciating.

Sly has been very active on Instagram recently, and posted a Flashback image from the filming of 'Rocky III' detailing his diet at the time. A grueling diet which included "very small portions of oatmeal cookies made with brown rice and up to 25 cups of coffee a day with honey and a couple scoops of tuna fish."

See the full story and image below:

 

 

Just for fun… A flashback from Rocky three. Between rounds I would get lightheaded and quite exhausted. I was on a very high protein diet which did not provide Much physical or mental energy. During the period I only ate very small portions of oatmeal cookies made with brown rice and up to 25 cups of coffee a day with honey and a couple of scoops of tuna fish. Sounds incredible right? At the time my body fat got down to 2.9 which is a really dangerous level. I may have looked pretty good on the outside but inside it was very dangerous thing to do. But I wanted the movie to be about change. How people have to adapt to different challenges because if they don't they will be conquered. I will always believe the adaptation is the key to survival and that's what this story was all about ... and while, getting smashed by Superstrong,CLUBBER LANG continuously four months of rehearsal plus the fight, tended to wear a person out so I would literally go to the corner between rounds, when I wasn't directing and try to get some blood back into my head so I could carry-on with the complicated fight choreography … It's funny, I never knew this picture existed!

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on

 

Another interesting detail about Rocky III disclosed on Stallone's Instagram recently is how Joe Frazier lost the part as Clubber Lang.

 

 

Since people like the story about Hulk Hogan , maybe you will like this one which leads to the discovery of Mr. T who went on to give an incredible performance as CLUBBER LANG! In Rocky three I thought we should use a REAL fighter , just to push the envelope to where fighting films had never gone before. so I decided to use the legendary heavyweight champion from Philadelphia, Smokin' Joe Frazier to play the brutal CLUBBER LANG So he cheerfully came to the gym , Very excited, very happy, very brightly dressed all in green. Green pants , green shoes, green hat, green shirt, green suspenders! He wanted the part very badly , and believe me I wanted him to get it too ..Smokin' Joe Frazier fighting Rocky !? This would be seriously entertaining, actually unbelievable !!!!! SoI naïvely said why don't we get into the ring and move around a little and see how we look together. I didn't realize it at the time, but This was like going into a lions cage covered in steak sauce and asking " how do you think I will taste ?" This was a very Dumb idea… Very bad. Joe was one of the most punishing fighters that ever lived and other boxers would honestly say that after they fought Smokin' Joe, they were never , ever the same.… Of course I thought that was a slight exaggeration, and I wanted our movie to be special, very realistic no matter what the price… Again in retrospect, A very foolhardy, hazardous , and homicidal concept. Once in the ring, I figured I just move around and avoid his punches , and that idea work well for about two seconds .. Simply because the Next thing I knew there was a Thunderous left hook planted extremely deep in my body, And an overhand right that resembled a falling piano landing just above my left eye .. The world was now spinning in several directions at the same time… Anyway I felt bad for Joe and did not want him to hurt his hands anymore and decided to call it a day. In retrospect,It was a wonderful afternoon meeting The legendary Joe Frazier and getting six stitches but it was also A brilliant realization that I needed someone like Mr. T in my life, more about that later!

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on

 

If you're a fan of the Rocky franchise and not following @officialslystallone, you need to click on the link and follow him because there's some really entertaining stuff lately.

(H/T FTW)