I Play Rocky

I Play Rocky tells how Rocky, the most famous boxing film ever made, came to be, from the point of view of the man who wrote it. Directed by Peter Farrelly, whose Green Book won Best Picture, from a script by Peter Gamble, it opened in limited US release on 6 November 2026 through Amazon MGM Studios before expanding on 20 November.

The story behind the film

Stallone is a bit-part actor who writes Rocky and refuses to sell it to producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff unless they cast him in the lead. The film then follows the preparation and shoot with the 1976 cast: Carl Weathers, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith and Burt Young, directed by John G. Avildsen. Rocky went on to win Best Picture and launch six Rocky films and three Creed films.

The cast

Anthony Ippolito plays Stallone, AnnaSophia Robb his then wife Sasha Czack, and Matt Dillon his father, Frank Stallone Sr. Stephan James plays Carl Weathers, Jay Duplass plays Avildsen, and Rob Demery plays heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. It was shot from October 2025 in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Stallone said in September 2025 that nobody had contacted him about the project.

Early reviews

It premiered at TIFF on 12 September 2026, finishing runner-up for the People's Choice Award, and sits at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety praised its grasp of the underdog story; ScreenDaily found it derivative and sentimental. For boxing fans, it shows how the club fighter who goes fifteen rounds with the champion, the template for most boxing films since, was born.