Over the weekend, tons of memorabilia from Sylvester Stallone‘s iconic Hollywood career went to auction, and sold for an eye-catching amount.
Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills sold nearly 500 pieces of movie memorabilia in an auction titled “The Property from The Life and Career of Sylvester Stallone.” The auction brought in hundreds of bidders from around the world looking to purchase a piece of Stallone’s storied career. The buyer’s bid by phone, online, and in-person throughout the massively successful auction.
The top-selling items all came from Sylvester Stallone’s legendary boxing film franchise Rocky. However, the auction contained items from his early work all the way up to his most recent The Expendables movies.
The highest-selling item in the auction was Stallone’s original handwritten script notes from the first Rocky movie. The Academy Award-winning 1976 Best Picture film script notes sold for an astounding $437,500. Stallone wrote the notes for the film in a spiral-bound red notebook filled with plot details, dialogue, mapped out scenes, and character development ideas.
In fact, some of the movie details within the original script notes had never been revealed to the public. It’s one of the many reasons the Rocky Balboa underdog script sold for more than eight times its original estimate of $50,000. Previously, Sylvester Stallone has said that he wrote the Rocky script in only three days. He also not only starred in the Rocky franchise, but wrote six of the movies’ screenplays.
Additionally, Julien’s auctioned off script pages from Rocky‘s five sequels, which Stallone penned as well. Each garnered high prices, including 1979’s Rocky II for $51,200, 1982’s Rocky III for $64,000, 1985’s Rocky IV for $89,600, and 2006’s Rocky Balboa for $18,750.
Sylvester Stallone Showcases Memorabilia Prior to the Auction
As mentioned, Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky memorabilia topped the auction prices. Yet the auction also included various items from his Rambo movie franchise and other famous Stallone films. Other items from Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, Judge Dredd, Escape Plan, Cop Land, The Expendables, and more went up for auction as well.
A few more highlights of Sunday’s auction also sold for more than six digits. Stallone’s American flag silk boxing shorts worn in Rocky III sold for $200,000. Original Rocky artwork that Stallone signed sold for $112,500, which went for 56 times its original estimate. And a No. 1 of 13 custom ‘Hero’ Knife from 1982’s Rambo: First Blood pulled in $128,000.
Previous to the auction, Sylvester Stallone promoted the Beverly Hills event on his official Instagram account. He shared a short clip of himself unpacking an intricate red leather box sent to him from Julien’s Auctions. The box contained a book showcasing each item from his career that was up for auction.
“Oh, what have we here? This just came in the mail from Julien’s where I’m having an auction. Let’s check it out. We love surprises. Ah, this man looks familiar,” Stallone says as he opens the specially-packaged Julien’s auction box.
The iconic action star removes the hardback auction book from its container as the Rocky theme song begins to play from within the box.
“Well I guess they spare no expense. And I recognize that little tune… from somewhere,” he jokes. “Anyways, thank you, guys. Check it out, it’s going to be a great auction. Keep punching.”
