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Dear Mr. Stallone,

It was with great dismay that I read in this article that you are indeed planning to make a sixth installment in the Rocky saga.

As a lifelong fan of the series, I implore you to reconsider.

From a story arc point of view, a sixth installment makes no sense. Rocky rose from nothing to the top, lost it all, regained it again, lost his mentor, his former enemy turned ally and eventually loses all his fortunes and discovers that it is all for nothing if not the love of his family.

If the rumours of the storyline are to be believed, he will come out of retirement to try and earn money.

If he is that desperate for money, then perhaps he should consider embarking on the book and celebrity circuit (however, after-dinner speeches may not be his forte) As the legendary Mohammad Ali has shown, there is a lot of money to be made in TV appearences and book signing sessions. I’m sure his autobiography would become a best seller, although perhaps a ghost-writer should be used. However, I understand that “Rocky VI – The Book Store Tour” would not make a particularly thrilling film.

There is also the realism factor. Granted the Rocky movies have not always been the most realistic, but I have always seen Rocky as being more or less the same age as you. If the production scedule is correct, you (and Rocky) will turn 60 during the film. From a quick search on the Internet, I’ve found that the oldest profesisonal boxer to win the world title was George Foreman at 46 years old. In Rocky V, Rocky would probably be about that age, being as he had a teenage son. Of course, makeup can make a man younger, and there is no suggestion of how much time has passed between Rocky V and VI, but from a realism stance, Rocky would be too old.

In Rocky V, it is revealed that Rocky has suffered severe brain damage, and that another fight could kill him. Adrienne would never support Rocky getting back in the ring, and in his son, he has too much to live for – why would he get back in the ring? The character of Adrienne grows in strength through the films, to the point where she even stands up to Rocky and tells him that he can’t win against Ivan Drago. She is certainally strong enough to divorce Rocky.

Rocky is an “All-American Hero”, a cultural icon. His inspirational story, as I have already alluded to, highlights that with the love of his family, he doesn’t need anything else. However, should he come out of retirement again, with the probability of his marriage breaking up, he would become a washed-up has been. He was strong enough in Rocky V to walk away, and that, in the words of the Elton John song in the end titles is “The Measure of a Man”.

So again, I implore you to look at what you are doing, and look at the parallels that your life has with Rocky, and be the bigger man and walk away.

Yours faithfully,

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