ZITISTE, Serbia (Hollywood Today/AFP) 8/19/07 – When all else fails, look to Hollywood for a bit of hope. A shining 10-foot statue of Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone’s famous film character, has been put up in a scarred Serbian hamlet to lend a bit of Rocky’s never-say-die spirit to the village’s image after years of hard times.

Apparently, some residents think Rocky can fix anything. “For years, only negative reports on farm diseases, monstrous murders, floods and landslides, have been coming from our village,” local official Zoran Babic said.

The bronze statue of Stallone as Rocky, made by a Croatian sculptor, was revealed late Saturday in the center of the Serbian village of Zitiste, some 30 miles north of the capital Belgrade, local media reported.

A village resident thought up the idea of building a statue last February as he wanted to pay tribute to his favorite movie hero after seeing the sixth and latest “Rocky” movie.

“I felt as if Rocky has come from our village, he had to fight to win his place in society,” Bojan Marceta said at the time.

The village, in Serbia’s northern Vojvodina province, suffered serious damage after persistent floods last year, while many of its inhabitants have left their homes in search of a better future.

When village officials heard of Marceta’s idea they enthusiastically embraced the project in a bid to shed a “more positive light on Zitiste,” said Babic of the local council.

“This is the chance to give a better, more positive image to Zitiste,” he added.

The 1976 “Rocky” film won three Oscars for best picture, best director and best film editing, catapulting Stallone to fame after he had struggled as an actor and screenwriter.