Sylvester Stallone remains one of the most sought-after stars in Hollywood with his impressive filmography of action movies all throughout his entire career. He is widely known for his work on Rocky and the famed The Expendables franchise, although quite surprisingly, he did not take home a massive paycheck from doing these projects.
Stallone debuted in the acting industry in 1968, but his claim to fame took place in the 70s after he wrote the story of the underdog Rocky Balboa. With 78 films under his belt, the actor has built an impressive legacy in the field of cinema.
Sylvester Stallone’s Highest Movie Salary Came From One Of His Forgotten Films
Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky marked his humble beginnings in the movie industry. He was paid $35,000 for writing the script and portraying the role of the main character. However, the actor revealed he received a generous cut from the movie sales after it earned $225 million against a budget of $1 million. He ended up taking home $2.5 million.
As he worked on the succeeding installments of the Rocky franchise up to his last appearance in Creed 2, Stallone’s salary also increased. He was paid $15 million for Rocky V and $10 million each for the first two Creed movies.
Stallone was already at the height of his career when he did Rambo: First Blood. Surprisingly, the actor thought the film would be disastrous and would end up ruining his career, only to receive the biggest paycheck of his life at the time. He brought home $3.5 million.
Interestingly, Stallone turned down the offer to do Rambo IV, which would have earned him $34 million, because he did not want to ruin the success of the third installment. Nevertheless, he still made a $16 million salary.
The Expendables movies, which Stallone co-wrote, produced, and starred in, gave him $16 million pay for the first three installments. Since he had a smaller role in The Expendables 4, he only received $3 million.
The ‘90s brought Stallone a lot of attention as he had already established himself as a household name. The actor was offered a three-movie deal from Universal Pictures amounting to $20 million pay for each film.
The 1996 disaster epic Daylight was a moderate success, but the other two titles, 2001’s Driven and 2002’s Eye See You, were box office flops. Nonetheless, Daylight earned Stallone the biggest paycheck of his career.
What Sylvester Stallone Meant When He Called Daylight His Last Action Movie
Sylvester Stallone talked about his 1996 film Daylight via The Bobbie Wygant Archive and explained why he said the project was going to be his last action film. He admitted:
“What I really meant is I didn’t want to do any more films that were insensitive or where it’s all pyrotechnics, where it’s just computer-driven that doesn’t really hold any emotional value… I would love to do something that is real. I mean, looks dangerous because it is dangerous, and there’s something at stake. There’s a story you can hook your heart to some kind of image.”
Daylight may have turned into one of Stallone’s forgotten films, but it surely gave the actor a very massive paycheck which he earned from a single role.