Longevity is often very hard to come by in Hollywood, and maintaining any significant degree of consistent box office success over an extended period of time is that much more difficult to achieve. Hats off to Sylvester Stallone, then, after the recent success of The Suicide Squad gave him the distinction of having a movie open at the top of the box office charts in every decade since the 1970s.
That’s a phenomenal achievement, and having the number one film in the country in six consecutive decades is something that very few actors have ever accomplished. Of course, Sly’s record kicked off in 1976 when Rocky hit big, and the 1980s saw his third and fourth outings as the Italian Stallion, First Blood, First Blood Part II and Cobra all reach the summit.
Cliffhanger, Demolition Man and Antz continued his track record throughout the 90s, and forgotten flop Driven even managed to nab the top spot despite being widely panned and ultimately bombing in 2001, before Stallone hit the jackpot again two years later with Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. The first two installments in The Expendables trilogy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 kept the dream alive during the 2010s, before The Suicide Squad‘s bow last weekend saw him go six-for-six since first cracking the mainstream 45 years ago.
The overwhelming majority of talents in the industry would be happy to enjoy a career that spans six decades, never mind topping the box office in every single one of them, but it just goes to show that you should write Sylvester Stallone off at your peril given the myriad of ups and downs he’s endured over the years, only to bounce right back up again.
