{"id":1854,"date":"2019-07-23T23:55:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T23:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2019-08-06T23:58:21","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T23:58:21","slug":"sylvester-stallones-production-company-wants-to-be-the-blumhouse-of-action-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/new\/sylvester-stallones-production-company-wants-to-be-the-blumhouse-of-action-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Sylvester Stallone\u2019s Production Company Wants to Be the Blumhouse of Action Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VarietyLogo1\"<\/a>\u201cI don\u2019t believe Sylvester Stallone carries around a wallet,\u201d says Braden Aftergood, the executive in charge of scripted development at the movie star\u2019s content company Balboa Prods.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that Sly, as he\u2019s known to friends and fans alike, is trying to duck out on a dinner bill. He never seems to have his license when the two men arrive at security at the various Los Angeles studio lots where they\u2019ve been pitching film and TV projects since they partnered up last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll get in line and get to the security guard, and they ask for ID,\u201d says Aftergood. \u201cI give mine; then they look at Mr. Stallone. There\u2019s a lot of exchanged glances, and the guards never know if they should demand something from him, and invariably he just passes through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the projects they\u2019re pitching clear similar hurdles. Since forming the company in May 2018, Aftergood and Stallone have been silently building and selling a diverse slate of content to partners like MGM and NBC\u00adUniversal. They view their company as an extension of the brand Stallone has established during his four decades in the business. Balboa \u2014 the last name of the title character in Stallone\u2019s \u201cRocky\u201d movies \u2014 tells gritty stories about underdogs overcoming adversity. The company participates in a $100 million development fund from the China-backed Starlight Culture Entertainment Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is for us to be the go-to place for action,\u201d says Aftergood. He wants Balboa to follow the specialty model of Blumhouse, the company behind \u201cGet Out\u201d and \u201cThe Purge.\u201d \u201cI appreciate that statement is grandiose, but Blumhouse has done an extraordinary job owning the horror space,\u201d says Aftergood. \u201cThere is no reason why we can\u2019t own the action space in a similar way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stallone says he loves acting but finds it \u201cself-serving. I want to go on and do something meaningful, so I thought why not try to find a partner who can do the real hard work of getting together all of this talent and put a different spin on doing film and TV in our own vision?\u201d<\/p>\n

Balboa\u2019s inaugural slate has five feature films in advanced development. These include the monster movie \u201cArcane,\u201d from director Corin Hardy; an English-language remake of Cannes film \u201cThe Gangster, the Cop, the Devil\u201d; and \u201cThe Bellhop,\u201d starring Iko Uwais (2011\u2019s \u201cThe Raid: Redemption\u201d). Stallone is also attached to two previously announced titles: a dark take on superheroes called \u201cSamaritan,\u201d in which he\u2019ll star, and a biopic of black boxing legend Jack Johnson, which Stallone will produce.<\/p>\n

On the TV side, the pair have set a reboot of Stallone\u2019s 1981 thriller \u201cNighthawks\u201d at USA, as well as the 1970s beat cop drama \u201cThe Tenderloin,\u201d which was sold to History.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like stories that deal with modern-day mythology, which is pretty much what Marvel is,\u201d says Stallone. \u201cYou take situations like the trope of the loner, the stranger in town, and you watch him cope with the forces that be. To me that\u2019s very intriguing. That plays out in the genesis of the Western, all the way out to the horror genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aftergood, whose credits include the Oscar-nominated \u201cHell or High Water,\u201d cut his teeth at Peter Berg\u2019s Film 44. He was wrapping up an overall deal at Jeff Robinov\u2019s Studio 8 when he first sat down with Stallone. \u201cAt one of our first meetings, I asked him why he wanted to do this,\u201d Aftergood recalls. \u201cStarting and running a company is a pain in the ass. I don\u2019t care who you are or how many people are underneath you \u2014 at some point you have to answer a question about payroll, about office decor. In Stallone\u2019s case, he seemed to have graduated past all of that.\u201d Stallone answered with one word: legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis brand is as meaningful today as it was in 1976, and I can\u2019t think of anybody else operating on that level,\u201d Aftergood says. \u201cHe saw this company as an opportunity beyond acting, to apply this brand to film and TV as a producer. Stallone has made a career out of populist movies designed to be seen by as many people as possible that are also quality and have something to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrity-backed production companies have undergone a metamorphosis in recent years. Once perceived as vanity projects, they have become legitimate content engines in an age when streaming giants throw money at recognizable names the way Rocky throws punches \u2014 relentlessly.<\/p>\n

In the old days, every A-lister worth his or her weight had a production deal, but most failed to generate much content. That\u2019s no longer the case. Brad Pitt\u2019s Plan B Entertainment may well outlive his movie stardom, having produced best picture Oscar winners \u201cThe Departed,\u201d \u201c12 Years a Slave\u201d and \u201cMoonlight.\u201d Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman\u2019s Blossom Films and Reese Witherspoon\u2019s Hello Sunshine have generated hit movies and shows such as Apple\u2019s \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d and HBO\u2019s \u201cBig Little Lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a punk rock spirit that Sly has, in that he\u2019s willing to buck convention and do something less traditional because it\u2019s more artistically interesting,\u201d says Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM\u2019s motion picture group. He points specifically to Stallone\u2019s handing the keys to the \u201cRocky\u201d franchise to Ryan Coogler, who made the spinoff \u201cCreed\u201d for MGM in 2015, with only the acclaimed indie \u201cFruitvale Station\u201d under his belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about what a risk it was to turn over his historic franchise, one of the most beloved in America cinema, to a guy who had made one movie for a couple million bucks, to great success,\u201d Glickman says. The executive is awaiting a new script draft on the Jack Johnson project from Stallone and Antoine Fuqua, who is also attached to direct.<\/p>\n

As an executive, Stallone says the hardest part of his job is delivering a pitch. Even a star as bright as he is needs to dial it up in a landscape where networks and distributors are burning through meetings in an attempt to increase the amount of content they offer audiences. \u201cPlaces like Amazon, Netflix, HBO, whatever, are inundated to the point where they\u2019re \u2014 not cynical \u2014 but they\u2019ve heard so many pitches that to actually excite them you have to set your hair on fire and pitch while you\u2019re ablaze,\u201d Stallone says. \u201cI can imagine them sitting there seven hours a day, hearing only this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team members at Balboa are no strangers to pitches themselves. \u201cI can\u2019t get a hamburger without getting pitched \u2018Rocky 11,\u2019\u201d jokes Stallone.<\/p>\n

Aftergood says the company\u2019s West Hollywood in-boxes and phone lines are often clogged with stories from people off the street, hoping for a chance to sell Stallone their vision. He understands what\u2019s driving would-be screenwriters who want their own chance in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the patron saint of the underdog,\u201d Aftergood says of Stallone. \u201cHe\u2019s a man who refuses to hear the word \u2018No.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI don\u2019t believe Sylvester Stallone carries around a wallet,\u201d says Braden Aftergood, the executive in charge of scripted development at the movie star\u2019s content company Balboa Prods. It\u2019s not that Sly, as he\u2019s known to friends and fans alike, is trying to duck out on a dinner bill. He never seems to have his license
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