Sylvester Stallone Has Been Working on-and-off on a Biopic About Edgar Allan Poe for the Last 45 Years

Sylvester Stallone may be most well known for being the Hollywood tough guy who made his breakthrough in the hugely popular Rocky films, but did you know that for almost half a century he’s been working on-and-off on a screenplay for a biopic about the famed writer Edgar Allan Poe?

The project was one of the first Stallone undertook, long before he was a household name, and he’s continued to tinker with it for decades. As a younger man, he even considered portraying the tragic author, but eventually decided he wasn’t right for the part, though he still hopes to direct.

Currently known simply as Poe, the project is one Stallone dreams of one day finishing and, in a recent post on Instagram, Stallone opened up about the project, saying: “It’s a never-ending journey, and I would hate myself if I don’t continue it at least to the best of my ability and try to see it, actually, come to fruition,” Stallone vowed. “To be able to go out there and say, ‘I accomplished it. It may have taken 45 years/50 years, but it’s done.’ Anyway. That’s what I’m working on. It’s been one of the great challenges of my life.”

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It’s a long road to reach your goals but it’s definitely worth the journey…

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Jan 7, 2019 at 5:19pm PST

He then followed it up with a never before seen picture of himself in costume as Poe. He wrote: “The only surviving picture that has never been seen anywhere before… The first serious screenplay I ever wrote was about the great writer Edgar Allan Poe, at one time I had aspirations to play him and this was part of the costume design… But I realized I wasn’t really right for the part , So this is all that remains. Maybe someday I’ll direct , who know?”

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The only surviving picture that has never been seen anywhere before… The first serious screenplay I ever wrote was about the great writer Edgar Allan Poe, at one time I had aspirations to play him and this was part of the costume design… But I realized I wasn't really right for the part , So this is all that remains. Maybe someday I'll direct , who know?

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Sep 30, 2017 at 7:20pm PDT

Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvester Stallone may not seem like the most obvious of matches, but we have to admire Stallone’s dedication. He may be a little too old to portray the writer (who died at age 40), but we’d certainly be interested in seeing him helm a feature film. Here’s hoping this project one day sees the light of day.

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