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All the United States Pennsylvania Philadelphia Rocky Statue

Rocky Statue

Yo, Adrian!

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Added By
Joe Beck
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The Rocky Statue in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum   Todd Van Hoosear
The statue is now permanent at the base of the iconic steps   Leslie Gottlieb
There are 72 steps   cezzie901
Rocky Statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art   toriecarr822
That statue is to the right of the front steps   Image capture Oct 2014
Rocky Balboa, a Philadelphia icon   Shinya Suzuki
  Calvin the Courageous / Atlas Obscura User
Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!!!   Jason Michael Walker / Atlas Obscura User
  cait7911 / Atlas Obscura User
  cait7911 / Atlas Obscura User
  Michael Barera / Atlas Obscura User
Eye of the Doc   islanddog / Atlas Obscura User
From behind   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Rocky Statue   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Detail.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
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About

When the first “Rocky” movie was shot back in 1975 (released in 1976), they didn’t have a whole lot of money or a whole lot of time. The entire film cost just over a million dollars to produce, and it was shot in only 28 days – “the gestation time for a water bug," as Sylvester Stallone so eloquently put it. So choosing locations in Philadelphia meant two things: get it cheap, and get it fast.

The iconic scene of Rocky Balboa heroically running the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum was both. Because the scene was filmed with a brand new piece of body-mounted camera equipment called a Steadicam (Rocky was its first commercial use), it allowed for fast and smooth shots with very little setup, and almost no additional equipment or lighting. Rocky ran the steps, the cameraman followed, and it was in the can.

There are 72 steps in front of the Art Museum, and since their appearance in Rocky and five of the sequels, they’re now known simply as the “Rocky Steps.” To commemorate their status as a major Philly tourist attraction, the bronze Rocky statue that first made an appearance in Rocky III has been permanently installed at the bottom of the steps. Cast in bronze and weighing in at three tons, it was created by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg as a commission from Stallone himself for the third film.

There is an identical Rocky statue at the Hall of Champions Sports Museum in San Diego. If you want one for yourself, a third casting was planned and put up for auction, but it didn’t reach its asking price of $5 million. The price was dropped a couple of times, but it looks like the piece is still available. If you need a little three-ton inspiration to get you up your own stairs, your very own Rocky might just be the ticket.

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Statues Film Locations Film Sports Museums

Know Before You Go

The Philadelphia Art Museum is in downtown Philadelphia, along the Schuylkill River. The statue is to the right of the main steps - the "Rocky Steps".

Community Contributors

Added By

josephwbeck

Edited By

Cohnjena, missingfilm, islanddog, cait7911...

  • Cohnjena
  • missingfilm
  • islanddog
  • cait7911
  • Michael Barera
  • Xavixavir
  • Fred Cherrygarden
  • blimpcaptain
  • Jason Michael Walker
  • Calvin the Courageous

Published

September 27, 2016

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Steps
  • http://www.schombergstudios.com/public-monumental#/rocky-monumental/
  • http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/trivia
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Museum_of_Art
Rocky Statue
Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
39.965023, -75.179151
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