New Delhi: An upcoming film ‘I Play Rocky’ chronicles the development and production of Sylvester Stallone’s most critically acclaimed film Rocky (1976), the script of which the actor wrote in just three days.
The trailer of the Peter Farrelly-directorial was released on Wednesday, with Anthony Ippolito portraying a young Stallone. The film also stars AnnaSophia Robb, Tóbi Kebbell, P.J. Byrne, and Matt Dillon. It is written by Peter Gamble.
Stallone is not officially involved with ‘I Play Rocky’ and revealed last year that he was “blindsided” by the announcement.
“I was shocked to read about it. I have zero to do with it. I might be able to participate and give them some insight,” he said.
Rocky, made on a budget of nearly $1 million, was directed by John G. Avildsen. The film was a massive hit and went on to deliver a worldwide return of over 11,000 per cent, becoming the highest-grossing film released that year. The following year, it ranked second only to Star Wars.
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The inspiration
Stallone wrote the script for Rocky after watching the championship fight between legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner in Ohio. In the 15th round, Wepner was knocked out by Ali.
While the bout inspired the story, Stallone maintained that none of the characters or elements were directly based on Wepner. The boxer later sued him, and the case was settled for an undisclosed amount. Stallone has also cited boxers Rocky Marciano and Joe Frazier as inspirations.
Henry Winkler, Stallone’s co-star and close friend from his struggling days, helped him take the story to ABC studios. However, the executives wanted to replace Stallone as the writer and the main lead, which he refused. The script eventually landed with Winkler-Chartoff Productions. Stallone, however, insisted that he would only sell the script if he was allowed to play the lead role of Rocky Balboa, to which they agreed.
As the film’s budget was extremely tight, the famous scene where Rocky and Adrian skate alone in an ice rink was done without any extras.
Rocky then got five sequels and a spin-off in Michael B Jordan’s Creed series where Stallone reprised his role.
I Play Rocky is set to release in November 2026.
(Edited by Stela Dey)