Paradise Alley underperforming at the box office left Stallone burdened with a lot of regrets.

What many people are not aware of is that the Hollywood macho man, Sylvester Stallone, is a great writer responsible for some of his best-performing movies in cinema that put his name on the map. Just as he is responsible for some good ones, no career is complete without a few stints. Thus, the actor’s movie adaptation of the book Paradise Alley made him resent himself for being manipulated so easily during the film’s production.
Sylvester Stallone in Paradise Alley

Sylvester Stallone Will Never Forgive Himself for This!

The Rocky and Rambo actor Sylvester Stallone once wrote a book called Paradise Alley and then went on to direct and star in its movie adaptation. However, the film not only bombed but bombed miserably at the box office. Consequently, having been so involved in the making process, he felt responsible for the failure of his brainchild.
Paradise Alley
In an interview with Roger Ebert, the actor revealed why he couldn’t forgive himself for the mistakes he had made that ultimately led the film to tank so badly at the box office.
“I’ll never forgive myself for the way I allowed myself to be manipulated during the editing of that film,–There were a lot of scenes in there to give atmosphere and character, and they wanted them out just to speed things along. They removed 40 scenes, altogether. I put 10 of them back in for the version shown on TV. For example, the whole sequence of the soldier without legs, sitting on a bar eating peanuts.”
Stallone deeply regretted his errors in judgment and actions during the making of the movie, which he felt resulted in its disastrous performance.

Sylvester Stallone Couldn’t Sell His Screenplay Because of This!

As Stallone was pitching the book for a movie to various producers, fate led him to Edward R. Pressman, which ultimately hindered him from accessing the opportunities he truly desired. As per Ain’t It Cool News, the actor portrayed the individual in question as someone who persisted in involvement with the film, despite Stallone’s desires otherwise. He said,
“I wrote the book first, then the screenplay. Both I wrote before I’d even thought about Rocky, so originally they were done in 1974. But I was very broke and I optioned the screenplay of Paradise Alley to a real… how should I say this… maggot, who put his hooks in so deep I could never get it away from him.”
Paradise Alley
Following a meeting with Pressman, Stallone had a change of heart and desired to sell the story to producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff. However, Pressman persisted and did not let Stallone sell the story to them. He continued by stating,
“So the first time I went in to meet Chartoff and Winkler, I was there on an acting job. I didn’t get it, but on the way out I said, “I have this screenplay called Paradise Alley.” They said to bring it over and I did. They wanted to make it, but the other cretin that I had optioned it to was so obnoxious, so overbearing, that the producers wanted nothing to do with me or the screenplay.” 
The film ultimately underperformed, leaving the actor burdened with a whole lot of regrets in his heart. Interestingly, this failure kickstarted Rocky.

Paradise Alley is available on Apple TV for rent.