JERICHO, NY, June 28, 2004 – Sylvester Stallone was virtually unknown when he persuaded producers and a major studio to let him star in ROCKY, the gritty tale of a working class boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champion. The film became an overnight success and garnered three Academy Awards®, and also launched Stallone's career as a box office megastar. Now, AMC celebrates Independence Day with "Fists Fly in July," a 24-hour marathon of all five ROCKY films.
AMC's ROCKY marathon begins at 6:00 AM with John Avildsen's ROCKY, the original 1976 film that also starred Talia Shire as Adrian, the shy object of Rocky's affection; Burgess Meredith as his coach, Mickey; and Carl Weathers as boxing champion Apollo Creed.
At 8:30 AM is ROCKY II (1979), written and directed by Stallone and featuring the return of co-stars Shire, Meredith, Weathers and Burt Young. After his triumph over Apollo Creed, Rocky marries Adrian and settles down. But when he runs out of money, he is forced to accept Creed's offer for a rematch.
At 11:00 AM, AMC presents an encore presentation of INTO CHARACTER. Overweight and pushed around as a boy, Nate Rubin drew inner strength and inspiration from his cinematic hero, the long shot underdog, Rocky Balboa, a character that wanted one chance to "go the distance." Now Nate, a lifelong boxing fan who has never actually stepped into a ring, is going to get that shot. With a former world champion in his corner, Nate will train intensively to transform himself into Rocky, right down to the South Philadelphia swagger. Nate embarks on an unforgettable journey, and learns what it feels like to be a champion.
The episode is followed by ROCKY III (1982) at 11:30 AM. When Rocky is defeated by a brutal challenger (Mr. T), and devastated by the death of his trainer (Meredith), Apollo (Weathers) offers to retrain him to help regain his fighting spirit. ROCKY III also introduced the song "Eye of the Tiger" into the cultural zeitgeist.
At 1:30 PM, AMC features ROCKY IV, as Brigitte Nielsen and Dolph Lundgren join the ensemble cast in this 1985 film. Lundgren plays powerful Soviet boxer who kills Apollo (Weathers) in the ring, driving Rocky to avenge his friend's death in the ring.
At 3:30 PM, AMC presents ROCKY V (1990). Rocky soon discovers that his match with Ivan Drago has left him with damage to his brain, and his fortune has been squandered by an accountant. Eager to make money, Rocky coaches an up-and-coming boxer, who ultimately challenges the Italian Stallion to a match in the ring. ROCKY V features the return of director John Avildsen to the Rocky franchise.
AMC, a division of Rainbow Media's Entertainment Services, which also includes WE: Women's Entertainment and IFC Companies, is a 24-hour, movie-based network, dedicated to the American movie fan. The network, which reaches over 86,000,000 homes, offers a comprehensive library of popular movies and a critically-acclaimed slate of original programming that is a diverse, movie-based mix of original series, documentaries and specials. Over the past three years, AMC has garnered many of the industry's highest honors, including eight Emmy awards. AMC is "TV For Movie People."
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC). Rainbow Media owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment; as well as the on-demand services: Mag Rack, Uncensored On Demand, World Picks On Demand and World Picks Networks. Rainbow Media's other businesses include its regional programming services – MetroChannels, News 12 Networks and Rainbow Sports Networks – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. Rainbow Media is also a 50 percent partner in Fox Sports Net.
| 6:00 AM | ROCKY |
| 8:30 AM | ROCKY II |
| 11:00 AM | INTO CHARACTER |
| 11:30 AM | ROCKY III |
| 1:30 PM | ROCKY IV |
| 3:30 PM | ROCKY V |
| 5:30 PM | ROCKY |
| 8:00 PM | ROCKY II |
| 10:30 PM | INTO CHARACTER |
| 11:00 PM | ROCKY III |
| 1:00 AM | ROCKY IV |
| 3:00 AM | ROCKY V |
| 5:00 AM | INTO CHARACTER |
ALL TIMES EASTERN/PACIFIC