{"id":3315,"date":"2025-10-18T16:19:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=3315"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:19:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T16:19:55","slug":"sylvester-stallone-reflects-on-20-year-feud-with-arnold-schwarzenegger-it-took-a-funeral-to-end-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=3315","title":{"rendered":"Sylvester Stallone Reflects on 20-Year Feud With Arnold Schwarzenegger: \u201cIt Took a Funeral to End It\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For two decades, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the twin titans of Hollywood\u2019s action era \u2014 icons of strength, charisma, and blockbuster spectacle. But behind the scenes of Rocky<\/em> and Terminator<\/em>, the two stars were embroiled in a rivalry so intense that Stallone now admits, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t competition \u2014 it was war.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a candid interview for the Netflix documentary Sly<\/em>, Stallone opened up about the 20-year feud that strained their relationship and shadowed much of their careers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe Wanted My Blood \u2014 and I Wanted His\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The conflict began in the mid-1980s, when both actors were at the peak of their fame. Stallone had conquered the box office with Rocky IV<\/em> and Rambo: First Blood Part II<\/em>, while Schwarzenegger was redefining action cinema with The Terminator<\/em> and Predator<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with ego,\u201d Stallone confessed. \u201cWe were both trying to be number one. He\u2019d open a movie; I\u2019d have to open a bigger one. He\u2019d kill ten guys; I\u2019d kill twenty. If he carried a machine gun, I wanted a tank.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The rivalry extended beyond the screen, with both men trading jabs at award shows and exchanging gossip through agents. \u201cWe hated each other,\u201d Stallone said. \u201cIt got to the point where we couldn\u2019t even be in the same room without measuring whose biceps looked bigger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Prank That Crossed the Line<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The feud reached a peak in 1992 when Schwarzenegger reportedly tricked Stallone into taking a role in the critically panned comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI heard he wanted the script,\u201d Stallone laughed. \u201cSo I jumped on it first \u2014 big mistake. Turns out he only pretended to be interested just to make me take it. That\u2019s when I realized I\u2019d been played.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwarzenegger later confirmed the prank in interviews, joking, \u201cI knew it would be bad. It worked perfectly.\u201d For Stallone, however, it marked a breaking point. \u201cAfter that, we didn\u2019t talk for years. I respected him as a competitor \u2014 but I couldn\u2019t stand him as a person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt Took a Funeral to End It\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The thaw came unexpectedly in the early 2000s at the funeral of a mutual friend and producer. \u201cWe saw each other there, and it was like \u2014 what are we doing?\u201d Stallone recalled. \u201cAll that time wasted trying to beat each other instead of realizing we were part of something bigger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From that moment, rivalry softened into respect \u2014 and eventually, collaboration. Schwarzenegger later invited Stallone to join The Expendables<\/em> films, bringing both men together on screen for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I called him about The Expendables 2<\/em>, he said, \u2018You\u2019re not trying to kill me again, right?\u2019\u201d Stallone laughed. \u201cI told him, \u2018Not this time. Maybe just a few explosions.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Two Legends, One Legacy<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Stallone and Schwarzenegger often appear together publicly, joking about the past and reflecting on what their rivalry meant for Hollywood. \u201cWe were like two gladiators,\u201d Schwarzenegger once said. \u201cThe audience loved it \u2014 but we nearly killed ourselves trying to live up to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Stallone now sees the feud differently. \u201cI think we pushed each other to be better. Without Arnold, there\u2019s no Rambo the way you know him. Without me, maybe there\u2019s no Terminator 2<\/em>. Iron sharpens iron,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

He paused, voice softening: \u201cIn the end, we were just two guys chasing the same dream \u2014 and learning it\u2019s okay to share the spotlight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you want, I can also create a shorter, punchy version with headline and pull quotes<\/strong> perfect for magazine or online publication.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For two decades, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the twin titans of Hollywood\u2019s action era \u2014 icons of strength, charisma, and blockbuster spectacle. But behind the scenes of Rocky and Terminator, the two stars were embroiled in a rivalry so intense that Stallone now admits, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t competition \u2014 it was war.\u201d In a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}