Sylvester Stallone Unleashes The Steps Memoir in May — Shocking Confessions From a Hollywood Heavyweight

Sylvester Stallone just did the most Stallone thing imaginable: he announced a memoir called The Steps, and yes, the title does exactly what you think it does. It is both about those steps in Philly and about the metaphorical ones it took to go from broke actor to Oscar night. The book is out in May.

What Sly is promising here

Stallone revealed the book on Instagram with a video message and framed it as a straight-from-him story about taking hits and getting back up. He says the narrative starts when he hit New York City in 1969 and runs through the big payoff: Rocky winning at the Academy Awards in 1977.

'I have got something very special coming out. I never thought I would do this, but I did, because I think I have a story to tell, and a lot of people may just relate to it. I certainly did, and it got me going in places I never thought would happen. This is a story about heart, energy, humour, and learning how to get up when you get knocked down. Going on when you do not think you can, and eventually climbing that one mountain that you once thought was out of reach.'

Why the title fits (and not just because of Philly)

For about fifty years, his sprint up the Philadelphia Art Museum steps has been a global shorthand for grit. Those stairs became part of the Stallone myth, and the book leans into that on purpose. It is not just training montages and triumph; he digs into where he came from: a rough birth, a tougher childhood, and getting written off in school. The pitch is that success is built one unglamorous step at a time, and he is using his own road as the case study.

• Timeline: arrives in NYC in 1969; the story crescendos with Rocky at the 1977 Oscars
• Personal history: difficult birth, messy childhood, and years of being misunderstood in school
• Theme: face the hits, embrace the hard stuff, keep moving when it would be easier to quit
• Career scope: not only how Rocky got made, but how persistence, creativity, and resilience shaped the rest of his iconic roles
• Big idea: vision, willpower, and work are the engine; the steps are literal and metaphorical

The vibe

This is decades-in-the-making reflection from a guy whose entire brand is the underdog who refuses to stay down. Inside baseball detail I like: the book is reportedly structured between two clean milestones (1969 arrival, 1977 triumph), which is a slick narrative frame that keeps the story moving and avoids the usual memoir sprawl.

Meanwhile, on TV...

Stallone is not slowing down on screen either. He is back this fall with season 3 of Tulsa King, which premieres September 21.

The Steps lands in May. Expect a lot of heart, a lot of scars, and a very on-brand reminder to keep climbing.