There have been so many movies that have been produced, shot, finished, and then suddenly canceled before release, but few have as chaotic of a development history as the Sylvester and Frank Stallone road trip murder comedy, The Good Life. This almost-released 1997 film has a hectic (and honestly, embarrassing) reason behind its demise. Usually, when a highly publicized movie starring big actors is tossed in the can, it’s a huge bummer for fans. In the case of this movie, it’s a wonder whether it would have ever truly been good in the first place. The film’s boring premise, massive production issues, and stars with huge egos behind it definitely didn’t help its potential quality. One thing is for sure though, and that’s that the story behind The Good Life is way too wild to keep on the down low.
Frank Stallone Wanted Sylvester’s Star Power
Sylvester Stallone, star of the boxing classic and gritty melodrama Rocky, is one of the biggest movie stars of all time. He’s primarily known for his long resume of being an incredible action star, but he also has a number of great dramatic roles to his name. He’s maintained a career that has kept him in the limelight for several decades now, making him a true movie star in every way. Then there’s his brother, Frank Stallone. This younger Stallone has had his share of jobs as an actor but is primarily known for his music. He most notably wrote and recorded the song “Far From Over” for the Staying Alive soundtrack, a highly acclaimed track for the critically panned sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Otherwise, Frank has had a pretty sparse creative career.
The Good Life was directed by Alan Mehrez of Bloodsport franchise fame and was supposed to be a 1997 release. The canned film starred Frank Stallone, Dennis Hopper, Andrew Dice Clay, David Carradine, Frank Vincent, Burt Young, and Peter Dobson. Sheesh, that’s a huge cast! The film would have followed a few golf-obsessed friends who move from Miami to New Jersey and end up entangled in a world of crime soon after they arrive. When getting ready to star in this indie crime comedy, it seems as though Frank needed someone to help get his project a little bit of leverage. Enter Sylvester Stallone, who agreed to provide a cameo role in the film to get Frank’s baby some more attention. You’d think that an agreement for one brother to do his younger sibling a favor would be the last of our worries, right? Wrong.
‘The Titanic’ Production Used Up Resources for ‘The Good Life’
Filming would begin in Miami, Florida in late October 1996, with a schedule that promised a 36-day shoot and a $5 million budget. The Good Life wasn’t set up to be the biggest movie ever made, by any means, but it was going to be a solid vehicle for the younger Stallone brother. The entire shoot was shaped around working with Sly’s availability, with the timing of it and its location being centered all around working him into the film. Although the film was very carefully planned out to fit in the star power, The Good Life was on its way to joining the hall of glorious disasters such as Tim Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra.
As the shoot geared up and kicked off, little things began stacking up immediately. Several sets of $3000 golf clubs went missing, Stallone was working longer hours than most crew members, scheduling issues became common, union protests halted production, times that actors had to show up were confused, and the budget continued to grow more and more. Eventually, these issues all got so out of hand that producer Alan Amiel had to scout out new and cheaper shooting locations than Miami for the movie to be shot in, and eventually ended up landing in Mexico. It couldn’t have been easy moving the entire shoot from one country to another, but Amiel was eventually able to do so, and production was back underway. Here, James Cameron’s Titanic was being shot and used up a great deal of the country’s resources. Crocodiles, fear of kidnapping, and troubles moving equipment from Miami to Mexico made the full transition difficult, but against all odds, The Good Life eventually wrapped production.
Sylvester Stallone Sued Over Advertisements
Now that Frank Stallone’s big acting job was all good to go, the film went into editing, finalized a cut, and marketing began. To try and sell the indie comedy, a pretty boneheaded choice was made to involve Sylvester Stallone in the advertisements for the film. These ads didn’t just advertise him, they made him out to be a much bigger presence than his simple cameo role was. This did not fly with Sly, so he filed a light $20 million lawsuit (the average of what he was typically being paid at the time) against filmmaker Alan Mehrez. Frank filed his own lawsuit soon after, only for Mehrez to then fire back and counter-sue for $50 million. Yikes, that’s a lot of cash.
Ultimately, the lawsuits ended up making it to where The Good Life was canned forever. That’s right, you can’t find a copy of this movie anywhere…it is gone. While it’s a bummer that the work of so many individuals had to go to waste, it’s unclear how good this movie would have been in the first place. Frank Stallone’s track record for picking projects already wasn’t great as it is, but when you stack the specific talent and the film’s lackluster premise on top of it all, this one just didn’t seem all that promising. And that’s all before you factor in the film’s issues while being made. It’s hard to believe that The Good Life ever stood much of a chance at being, well, good.
Despite its chances of being a successful film remaining relatively low, it would be nice if audiences were able to see The Good Life. Frank Stallone never really had his one true moment to break out from behind his brother’s shadow and, despite being given a chance with this movie, it managed to fall through his fingers due to poor marketing choices and unfortunate legal battles. That being said, given the unreleased film’s notoriety, strange legacy, and mysterious disappearance, there would have to be some level of excitement or interest in case it ever resurfaced. So what do you say, Hollywood execs? Sure, lawsuits that cost people tens of millions of dollars took place, but how about we pop some popcorn and finally catch The Good Life?