In 1977, This Sylvester Stallone Movie Won Best Picture Against All Odds

Sylvester Stallone's Rocky was not an easy film to get made.

While it's now considered one of the most popular sports movies ever filmed, there was a time when it seemed like this iconic underdog story would never make it past the first draft. The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone in just three days in 1975, reportedly after he saw the legendary fight between Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali.

As written in American Sports: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas, Stallone pitched...