Stallone wanted to destroy Rambo and feared for his career
Sylvester Stallone admitted that at one point he was so dissatisfied with the movie *Rambo* that he wanted to prevent it from being released. The actor considered the early version of the film so unsuccessful that he even tried to buy back copies of it in order to destroy them.
American actor Sylvester Stallone shared an unexpected story related to one of the most famous films of his career. We’re talking about the 1982 “Rambo,” which later became a cult classic and launched a successful film franchise. However, when work on the film was completed, Stallone was far from confident in its success. On the contrary, the actor feared that this film could seriously harm his career.
According to Stallone, the first screening of the film in the editing room was a real disappointment for him. He considered the early version of the film very weak and was convinced that audiences wouldn’t accept it. “When we first watched ‘Rambo’ in the editing room, my agent gagged. It was so awful,” the actor recalled. Stallone also said that at the time, he was far from the top choice for the role of war veteran John Rambo. According to him, other well-known actors had been offered the role before him.
Among those considered for the lead role were Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, John Travolta, and Clint Eastwood. In the end, Stallone got the part. But even after filming wrapped, he wasn’t satisfied with the result. “I think I was the eleventh actor to be offered this role—no one wanted to play it because it was inappropriate,” he said.
The actor had so little faith in the film that he even wanted to pull it from theaters. Stallone recalled that he tried to buy back copies of the film to destroy them. “It was so bad that I tried to buy back the copies to burn them,” the actor said. Separately, Stallone insisted on significantly cutting the film. The original version of “Rambo” ran about 180 minutes. The actor wanted to cut it nearly in half—down to 89 minutes.
The reason was simple: Stallone believed that the long version had many weak moments that were better left unseen by the audience. Ultimately, some of his concerns were addressed through editing. The film ended up being significantly shorter than the original version and became a huge box-office success. Not only did *Rambo* not ruin Stallone’s career, but on the contrary, it cemented his status as one of the leading stars of action movies. The character of John Rambo became one of the most famous in his career.
Following the success of the first film, the Rambo story continued. In total, four more sequels were released, and the entire franchise grossed over $800 million at the global box office. As a result, the film that Stallone once considered a potential disaster for his career became one of the most successful works in his filmography. This is reported by Port.
