The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star. It spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa, all written by and starring Stallone, who also directed all sequels except for Rocky V (which was directed again by Avildsen).he main theme song,  Gonna Fly Now , made it to number one on the Billboard magazine's Hot 100 list for one week (from July 2 to July 8, 1977) and the American Film Institute placed it 58th on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.