It was a knockout movie, and now Sylvester Stallone hopes a musical based on his beloved boxing film "Rocky" will also be a hit on Broadway.
Stallone and producers Stage Entertainment USA said Sunday they plan to get "Rocky" up and punching at New York's Winter Garden by February, following a successful debut of the musical in Hamburg, Germany, last fall.
Based on the Oscar-winning 1976 film, the musical features a score by "Ragtime" veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and a story by Thomas Meehan, who wrote "The Producers" and "Hairspray." Alex Timbers is set to direct.
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The musical stays close to the film, which charted the rise and romance of amateur boxer Rocky Balboa. In the story, the huge underdog Balboa gets his shot against an undefeated heavyweight champion.
But — "Yo! Adrian!" — look for the musical to focus on the fighter's relationship with his long-suffering girlfriend.
"At the end of the day, Rocky is a love story, and he could never have reached the final bell without Adrian,” Stallone said in a video produced by Stage Entertainment. “To see this story coming to life on a musical stage makes me proud. And it would make Rocky proud."
Stage Entertainment USA Producer Bill Taylor said he was excited to be involved with the project.
"The creative team behind 'Rocky' includes some of Broadway’s most sought-after and superlative artists who together have crafted a musical that is epic and yet intimate, romantic yet muscular, much like the Academy Award-winning Best Picture that took the world by storm over thirty years ago.”