There was a time when the beef between “Apollo Creed” (Carl Weathers) and “Rocky” (Sylvester Stallone) was not just on-screen in the 1976 Rocky movie. Nope not at all, it turns out that they actually had some REAL-LIFE tension that started around the year 2005. Prior to that, they were on really good terms though.
What apparently happened, was that in 2005, Sylvester Stallone approached Carl and asked him if he would allow him to use some of his footage from the previous Rocky films in his then-upcoming Rocky sequel, Rocky Balboa. Stallone had also asked Mr. T and Dolph Lundgren (the big Russian dude who starred as “Rocky’s” opponent in Rocky IV) for that same permission to their video footage usage. Mr. T and Lundgren were cool with that idea and agreed to it, but Weathers wanted an actual part in the film, although his character had died in the ring in Rocky IV.
Stallone gave Weathers a big, fat “N” to his wanting to return to the movie. Weathers, in turn, gave Stallone a big ol’ “No,” in response to Stallone’s request to using his footage for Rocky flashbacks from the previous movies. Therefore, Stallone improvised and instead used footage of a fighter who looks like he could be Weathers’ “play-cousin.”
Weathers once stated this about being written out of the Rocky movie script:
First of all, when I found out about it, what are you going to do? You’re either in or you’re not in, and then you’re dead anyway. You’re going to be utilized so that Rocky can go on. In a strange way I think [Apollo’s] arc was as complete as anybody could have it be. What would I do after going in and beating the Russian?
[Source: MTV]
Here’s how fans on one forum reacted upon learning about this situation between Weathers and Stallone:
Anonymous #1
“Stallone f’d up. Weathers put Stallone on the map, Sly forgot to pay his dues.”Anonymous #2
“How do you get…Carl Weathers in the film without Apollo coming back from the dead?
Does he get visited by his ghost, who just so happens to look [much older than he did] when he died? Cornball ish, even for Rocky.”Anonymous #3
“It’s pretty easy actually, you shoot a new scene of Rocky remembering a moment/conversation with Apollo that would have been relevant to the plot of Rocky Balboa. The scene where Rocky Ali’s about Apollo in the restaurant for example. Just use makeup tricks to make the two actors look like they’re younger selves and shoot with a very soft focus lense.”Anoymous #4
“No amount of makeup or cgi is gonna make Carl Weathers any less… Sly made the right call in my opinion.”
[Source: thecoli.com]
After Weathers’ refusal to let Stallone use his footage, there have been reports of tension between the two, but like we said, just a couple years prior to that, everything was cool as a fan between them.
Let’s sidetrack for a minute, because we think this footage of Stallone and Weathers choreographing their fight scene for Rocky back in the day, is really interesting. Check it out below…
In February (2015), TMZ caught up with Weathers and asked him what he thought about the then-upcoming 2015 Rocky movie (which will be centered around “Apollo Creed’s” grandson following in his grandfather’s footsteps and being trained by “Rocky”). Carl quickly shunned them away, dryly stating – and I quote- “I have no comments about the new Rocky movie, I have NO comments, about the new Rocky movie.” Then he walked off, looking annoyed that he was asked about the film.
Good news is that now it seems they’ve squashed their beef, because as you can see in the photo up top, they’re once again cheesin’ it up for the cameras…TOGETHER. So, that’s a step in the right direction.
