“I Regret That”: Stallone Reveals 3 Blockbusters That Could Have Been Franchises

Sylvester Stallone Reflects on Missed Opportunities in His Career

At 79, Sylvester Stallone admits he missed a golden opportunity to turn three cult classics into billion-dollar empires. For most actors, creating one blockbuster franchise is the pinnacle of a career. The Oscar-winning icon created two back-to-back film series with ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’. Yet, in an interview last year, the action legend revealed his “biggest regret” is not the movies he made, but the three he left on the table.

The Three Movies Sylvester Stallone Wishes He Turned Into Franchises

Stallone confessed that he believes ‘Cobra’ (1986), ‘Tango & Cash’ (1989), and ‘Demolition Man’ (1993) were all primed to become major franchises, but his own “laziness” and poor timing killed them. “I think all of those movies had at least three movies in them,” Stallone said, reflecting on the missed opportunities. “But I was just maybe too lazy. I didn’t apply myself to expanding them, and I regret that.”

The Untapped Potential of ‘Cobra’

The first film on Stallone’s regret list is ‘Cobra’. Starring Stallone as Marion “Cobra” Cobretti, a knife-wielding, sunglasses-wearing detective fighting a murderous cult, the film was a violent, gritty hit. It grossed $49 million domestically against a $25 million budget. However, Stallone has previously described the film as “half-baked.” Speaking to JoBlo.com at the Toronto International Film Festival, he lamented his lack of focus during production. “I felt as though that’s something I should have directed, and I didn’t, and I regret that,” he said. “You go, ‘God, why didn’t I try harder?’”

Despite its cult status, Cobra’s domestic performance was deemed too soft to launch a sequel in the 80s, a decision Stallone now calls a massive miscalculation. Interestingly, reports indicate Stallone tried to revive ‘Cobra’ as a television series following ‘Rambo V: Last Blood’, though the project has yet to materialize.

The Untapped Potential of ‘Tango & Cash’ and ‘Demolition Man’

The other two titles on Stallone’s “what if” list are fan favorites with significant untapped potential. ‘Tango & Cash’, which paired Stallone with Kurt Russell as bickering cops framed for murder, was a blast of chemistry that the studio failed to capitalize on. Despite a massive $54 million budget, the film stalled at $63 million domestically.

Similarly, ‘Demolition Man’, the 1993 sci-fi satire that pitted Stallone’s frozen cop against Wesley Snipes’ Simon Phoenix in a sanitized future, is often cited as ahead of its time. While it is a beloved classic today, its $58 million domestic gross was considered a disappointment against a budget that reportedly reached $77 million.

“The economics were different then,” a studio analyst noted. “If a film didn’t open huge domestically on opening weekend, sequels were scrapped. Today, streaming and international markets would have guaranteed Demolition Man 2.”

The Challenging 1990s Context

Stallone’s regret is contextualized by his career trajectory in the 1990s. While the 80s belonged to ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo’, the 90s were murkier. Stallone starred in critical misfires like ‘The Specialist’ and the infamous ‘Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot’, a film he has called “maybe the worst film in the entire Solar System”.

Had he successfully launched a third or fourth franchise during that decade, capitalizing on the buddy-cop dynamic of ‘Tango & Cash’ or the dystopian world of ‘Demolition Man’, it might have offset the disappointments of his dramatic experiments.

A Return to Roots and Reflections on the Future

Ultimately, Stallone returned to his roots, resurrecting Rocky with Creed (earning him an Academy Award nomination) and launching ‘The Expendables’ ensemble. However, the actor admits that seeing Marvel and other franchises dominate the box office makes him wistful about the characters he left behind. “I was running two franchises at once, which is exhausting,” Stallone concluded. “But looking back? I should have run three.”