Sylvester Stallone Had A Cameo In John Travolta’s Awful Saturday Night Fever Sequel

When John Badham’s “Saturday Night Fever” grossed $282.4 million in theaters worldwide against a budget of $3.5 million after its release in 1977, a sequel was a foregone conclusion. Producers Robert Stigwood and Norman Wexler nailed it, and thankfully, new movie star John Travolta was on hand to return as dance-loving Tony Manero. Unfortunately for the film’s producers, Travolta had a lot of influence in determining the direction of the sequel, and he didn’t like their initial idea. All they agreed on was the title: “Survival.”

The bone of contention was Tony’s portrayal. In the first movie, he was a complete idiot until the final scene. While it’s undeniable that he’s a talented disco dancer, how far can that talent really take him? Stigwood and Wexler did not envision a promising future for Tony, which upset Travolta. As a result, the project stalled until 1981, when Travolta came up with the idea of ​​Tony becoming a Broadway dancer (via The New York Times ). Wexler wrote a new script that found Tony landing a role as a chorus dancer, but again, that wasn’t good enough for Travolta. He wanted Tony to be a huge success.

Around this time, Travolta, a fan of Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone, saw the 1982 film “Rocky III” and was impressed by its energy (as he should have been because “Rocky III,” with its euphoric ending, is the funniest movie ever made). Travolta wanted “Staying Alive” to emulate the intense verve of Stallone’s film, and asked Stigwood and Paramount to find a director who could approximate that. Paramount did it better: they hired Stallone. Although Stallone did not want a role in the film, he offered himself a small Alfred Hitchcock-style role, bumping into Travolta during a scene on a New York City street.

Sylvester Stallone was coming off the most triumphant year of his career when he agreed to direct Staying Alive. In addition to the success of Rocky III, 1982 saw the release of First Blood, which was a big enough hit to indicate that Stallone’s version of John Rambo had franchise potential. John Travolta, on the other hand, was reeling from the box office disappointment of Brian De Palma’s masterpiece “Blow Out.” He wasn’t exactly desperate to take a hit, but a rebound would be nice.

The good news is that “Staying Alive,” which sees Tony become the star of a dance-centric Broadway musical called “Satan’s Alley,” has opened commercially, grossing $126 million at the global box office against a $22 million budget. The bad news is that it’s the antithesis of “Saturday Night Fever.” Tony has transformed into a good-hearted hothead in the vein of Rocky Balboa, and the entire movie turns into a production of “Satan’s Alley” that plays out as a great prize fight.

“Staying Alive” has been roundly panned by critics (it currently holds a 3% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but it’s a disastrously misfired blast for most of its runtime. If nothing else, it gave us Frank Stallone’s hit single “Far From The End.” I just have one question: Is Sly playing himself in this street scene? Because when Tony looks back at him, then steps forward, he looks impressed that he’s just met a movie star. Someone needs to solve this puzzle.