Sylvester Stallone’s life and career is getting the retrospective treatment courtesy of the Netflix documentary “Sly,” which chronicles the highs and lows of his near 50-year Hollywood career.
“Do I have regrets?” Stallone asks in a teaser that dropped on Friday. “Hell yeah, I have regrets.”
“Sly” is directed by Thom Zimny (“Springsteen on Broadway”) and produced by Sean Stuart, with the documentary to begin streaming in November.
The official logline explains what’s to come: “For nearly 50 years, Sylvester Stallone has entertained millions with iconic characters and blockbuster franchises, from ‘Rocky’ to ‘Rambo’ to ‘The Expendables.’ This retrospective documentary offers an intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor-writer-director-producer, paralleling his inspirational underdog-story with the indelible characters he has brought to life.”
Stallone also serves as an executive producer on the documentary alongside Bill Zanker, Sam Delcanto, Braden Aftergood, Jon Beyer, Tom Forman and Jenny Daly, with Maren Domzalski and Adrienne Gerard as co-producers.
In the first-look clip, Stallone reflects on his career achievements and their costs. “What is healthier — to live under the illusion that you could have been great? Or actually have an opportunity to be great, and then you blow it, and you realize you’re a failure?” he asks, while key memories of his career flash by, including his first trip to the Oscars in 1977, where “Rocky” won best picture.
Stallone then compares his career to being on a speeding train. “That’s what your life is — whipping by. It’s gone,” he explains, as the camera scans across bound scripts for Stallone’s “Rocky” and “Creed” films. “Filmmaking, it comes at a great price. There’s no time for anything else.”
Despite hanging up his gloves as Rocky Balboa (Stallone did not appear in the franchise’s latest film “Creed III”), his career is seemingly hotter than ever. The actor recently starred in his first TV series, Paramount+’s “Tulsa King,” followed by “The Family Stallone” reality series, which also featured his wife Jennifer Flavin Stallone and their three daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.
On the big screen, Stallone had a supporting role in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (following a memorable collaboration with filmmaker James Gunn in 2021’s “The Suicide Squad,” where the actor voiced King Shark) and he’s returning for “Expend4bles,” the action franchise’s fourth installment, in September. Plus, Stallone announced plans to reprise his iconic role as Gabe Walker in a reboot of “Cliffhanger.”
The 40-second clip doesn’t give much away about the content of the documentary, other than promising a candid Stallone, who wraps up his existential line of reasoning with this thought: “Nothing inspires you than taking your history, balling it up,” he says, acting out his point and shooting the imaginary ball like a free-throw.
Watch the full teaser for “Sly” below:
