Sylvester Stallone Documentary Trailer Released by Netflix

You may know Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, Lt. Marion "Cobra" Cobretti, Barney Ross — or just Sly. Netflix released the trailer for its feature-length Stallone documentary, Sly, which offers unprecedented access to the actor, writer, director, and producer who went from underdog to Hollywood legend. Directed by Thom Zimny (The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash) and featuring interviews with Frank Stallone Jr., Quentin Tarantino, and co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Expendables, The Escape Plan), Henry Winkler (The Lords of Flatbush), and Talia Shire (the Rocky saga), Sly hits Netflix on November 3rd. Watch the new trailer below.

"What is healthier, to live under the illusion and still have a little glimmer of hope that you could have been great," Stallone says in the Sly trailer, "or blow it, and be like, 'You're a failure?' I think the easier route is to live under the illusion. The rejection was my encouragement."

The official logline: "For nearly 50 years, Sylvester Stallone has entertained millions with iconic characters and blockbuster franchises, from Rocky to Rambo to The Expendables. This retrospective documentary offers an intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor-writer-director-producer, paralleling his inspirational underdog story with the indelible characters he has brought to life."

Sly "takes a thoughtful, intimate look at Stallone's triumphs and struggles, drawn in parallel with the indelible characters he's played," according to Netflix, also behind the Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary Arnold. 

Once deemed "un-castable," Stallone famously wrote Rocky — the 1976 underdog drama that went on to win Best Picture, and the biggest box office of the year — and bet on himself as its leading man. The success of Rocky spawned a franchise and launched Stallone's Hollywood career, with blockbuster turns in First Blood, Cobra, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, the action-star ensemble The Expendables, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, and DC's The Suicide Squad.

"Nobody wanted to make it. It was my best writing too," Stallone recalled of Rocky at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this year. "I just wrote about what I knew. I was writing about this little kind of mentally challenged guy who happened to have a lot of heart."

In Rocky, the underdog Philly boxer sets out to prove he's not "just another bum from the neighborhood" by accepting a million-in-one shot: the Grand World Championship Bicentennial Heavyweight Fight, a match against reigning champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). "I wanted to write a movie about a guy who says 'I'm not great at all, never will be. I fight great fighters. But I just want the opportunity to go the distance,'" Stallone said.

Stallone also invited fans into his personal life for The Family Stallone, an eight-episode documentary series now streaming on Paramount+. Sly lands on Netflix November 3rd.