In his legendary career, Sylvester Stallone has attempted nearly every action stunt.
However, in the Paramount+ Super Bowl commercial titled “Stallone Face,” the action star grabs a massive stone nose modelled after his own and climbs across a giant Sylvester Stallone head carved into “Paramount Mountain.”
“It was only a matter of time before somebody climbed my nose,” Stallone, 76, says of the commercial, which debuted Thursday. “It’s roughly the size of Everest. As a result, it was unavoidable. Fortunately, I didn’t have sinus problems that day.”
Dora the Explorer, Capt. Pike (Anson Mount) from “Star Trek: Discovery,” and Lt. Dangle (Thomas Lennon) from “Reno 911” join Stallone’s daughters Sophia, Sistine, and Scarlet at base camp to witness the surreal scaling of Stallone’s solo Mount Rushmore.
The one-minute Super spot (going rate for 30 seconds: $7 million, according to Ad Age) is part of Paramount+’s amusing Mountain of Entertainment marketing campaign.
“It’s funny, but I thought nothing could top that statue of my dad,” Sophia, 26, says, referring to Philadelphia’s famous 10-foot Rocky statue, which is still a tourist attraction. “It turns out that a mountain can top it. What could be better than a mountain?”
His daughters, on the other hand, are less than impressed, dismissing the climb and eventual fall with the words, “He does this.”
The Stallone family life is also explored in “The Family Stallone,” an eight-part reality series starring Stallone, his wife Jennifer Flavin, and their three daughters, which will premiere on Paramount+ this spring.
“Working with my father is similar to working with a younger brother. So we’re constantly rolling our eyes at him,” Sistine, 24, says. “It was only natural for us to say, ‘Oh Sly, he’s climbing his own face and now he’s falling off.'” He says bizarre things. He does bizarre things. So this isn’t far from everyday life.”
Stallone earned a major eye roll from Sistine at breakfast just before his family Zoom call to discuss the commercial on Wednesday by pointing out “a very handsome young man” nearby.
“I thought she should meet him,” Stallone says. “I got myself into a lot of trouble.”
“He basically pointed to this guy and said, ‘Is that the one you think is hot?'” Sistine explains. “I wished I could crawl under the table.”
Stallone climbed for hours on an indefinable face built onto a raised platform for the paramount spot, but relied on “CGI magic” to transform the mountain into his grunting doppelganger.
“This commercial was more involved and expensive to shoot than most films. “They really went all out,” he says.
Stallone has already earned his place on Paramount Mountain by portraying Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a woefully transplanted New York City Mob capo, in the Paramount+ drama “Tulsa King.”
Scarlet, the youngest daughter and aspiring actress, played the caretaker of Manfredi’s horse Pilot in the series, which concluded its first season in January.
“It was incredible; I’d never done any TV before,” Scarlet says. “I know I’ll never get another chance to do something with him. But it was a great bonding experience.”
“Wait a minute, Scarlet, you haven’t been fired,” Stallone says, implying that her character will return in Season 2. “What makes you think you won’t return? Someone needs to look after Pilot.”
Flavin is conspicuously absent from the family Paramount+ commercial, despite the fact that he filed for divorce (and reconciled) last year. Stallone simply turned the Zoom camera to his wife, who was sitting nearby on the couch, when asked why she wasn’t there.
“It’s a big mountain,” Flavin says. “But there was no room for the loudest mouth and the one who controls everything. And that’s who I am.”
