Gonna Fly Now

What's that song I hear bumpin' in the background? That's right, "Eye of the Tiger." MGM announced yesterday that the long-awaited (at least by me) sixth chapter in the Rocky saga, "Rocky Balboa," will now be released Dec. 22 instead of Feb. 7. This is news so wonderful it has me doing one-armed push-ups and jumping up and down atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I've been primed for this movie ever since the release of "Rocky V" in 1990, and especially so since my 1999 interview with Rocky. I always suspected writer/director Sylvester Stallone had one more sliver of genius remaining in him, and the studio is showing tremendous confidence in him by moving the film to an Oscar-friendly release date. Let me be the first to fearlessly predict that "Rocky Balboa" will match the best picture Oscar win of the original "Rocky" back in '76.