January 9, 1976

“Yo Adrian” … that’s right on this day in 1976 Sylvester Stallone began filming the classic rags to riches tale of Rocky Balboa. The Oscar winning film, ROCKY, was filmed in Philadelphia in a mere 28 days on a $1 million dollar budget, written by Stallone himself and directed by John Avildsen. ROCKY was a sleeper hit, grossing over $225 million dollars rocketing Stallone into stardom and later giving birth to four more sequels (Rocky II-V). It was also named the highest grossing film of 1976. ROCKY is an iconic Philadelphia film and was celebrated by a bronze Rocky statue which rests at the grassy knoll at the base of the Art Museum’s steps since September 2006. This statue is a very popular tourist attraction for Philadelphia; a real symbol of  pop culture.

ROCKY was one of the first full length feature films to employ the use of the Steadicam. This peice of equipment was mostly used to film the iconic fight scenes and infamous running scenes, which as when Balboa runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

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