Yo, product placement
Considering the last installment in the "Rocky" series hits theatres this December, it's only appropriate that Rocky Balboa lands back at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Appropriate, that is, if you're Syl Stallone trying to get a little pub before he starts going on the talk-show circuit to promote the thing.
After nearly a quarter-century of squabbling and storage, the Rocky Balboa statue returned Friday night to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, not far from the steps where the fictitious hard-luck fighter made movie history.
"Yo, Philly! How you doin’?� Stallone said to a raucous crowd, according to the Associated Press account.
Thousands of fans erupted in chants of “Rocky! Rocky!� when Stallone took the stage for the statue’s dedication, some 30 years after Stallone and “Rocky� debuted and spawned four sequels, leading into the grand finale, "Rocky Balboa," due out Dec. 22.
There's been debate during that time about what to do with the statue that had nearly as many locations as the movie had sequels. Stallone commissioned the statue for a scene in 1982’s “Rocky III� and donated it to
the city afterward.
It was first was placed at the top of the museum steps, but was quickly moved to the city’s sports stadium complex in South Philadelphia after art devotees panned the statue as a movie prop not suited for the renowned
institution.
After 25 years, the statue’s fate was on the ropes after it was moved again and left to cool its boots in a warehouse. But the city Art Commission voted 6-2 Wednesday to move the statue out of storage and put it on a street-level pedestal near the museum steps.
“This leaves me absolutely even more speechless,� Stallone said in a speech that didn't leave him speechless. “This is mind-bending to me that this could happen.�
Six "Rocky" episodes, or the bronze statue that stands 9-foot-11 and weighs about 1,300 pounds?