Get Ready For ‘Rocky’ Season Again: ‘I Play Rocky’ Makes You Laugh, Cry, And Feel Motivated to Overcome Anything

One of the best films in 2026 will see a select theater release on November 6 and a nationwide release on November 20. I Play Rocky, starring Anthony Ippolito (The Offer) as Sylvester Stallone, will not only bring a full rush of nostalgia to those who grew up watching Rocky but also give the younger generation a chance to learn more about this iconic character.

When the official announcement came in May 2024 that a film about the making of Rocky was in the works, with a release on its 50th anniversary, it didn’t draw much enthusiasm. This was further heightened when Stallone himself came out on social media to say he wasn’t involved in the project at all. A film about Rocky without Stallone’s fingerprints? How exactly will anyone pull this off and make it a success?

Director Peter Farrelly (Green Book, Dumb and Dumber) and writer Peter Gamble (Office Uprising) had a vision they felt could make I Play Rocky great. When Farrelly saw actor Ippolito’s casting video, they knew right then they had their guy. The rest, as they say, is history.

While attending the 25th Annual San Diego International Film Festival, I had the pleasure of screening I Play Rocky for FightsATW. From the start, the 1970s setting felt authentic, and Ippolito, playing Stallone, lived out of a hotel day to day. The acting jobs weren’t coming in fast enough, and he worked at a fish market to make ends meet.

He was suddenly called to audition for a role, but it meant choosing between going and losing his job at the fish market or not going and never knowing if he would have gotten the role while still keeping the job that put money in his pocket. He chose the casting call. It would be the first of many difficult life decisions he would make throughout the film. Stallone didn’t get the role and was forced to live on the streets. There, he found a small puppy, whom he named Butkus, who became his best and only friend.

Stallone eventually finds a job at a theater, where he meets his first wife, Sasha Czack, played by AnnaSophia Robb (Magazine, Rebel Ridge). Their on-screen relationship felt organic and playful, making it easy to watch as they navigated it. The film then delves into Stallone’s trials and tribulations; in his heart, he believes he can make it, but life keeps trying to tell him he can’t. Those realities, and how he felt in those moments, will tug hard on your heartstrings, especially if you have ever experienced hardship in life.

Once Stallone finally gets his opportunity, he realizes it isn’t as rosy as he thought. After writing Rocky in just a few days, the studio loved it, but not with Stallone as the main character. Sticking to his principles, Stallone turns down life-changing money because he knows in his heart that he is Rocky Balboa. He finally gets his way, but it comes with conditions.

Getting Rocky greenlit under strict budgetary constraints wasn’t what Stallone envisioned, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. In the end, Rocky gets made, though it faces its own obstacles along the way, and it becomes one of the most iconic films in Hollywood history.

While the film is great and will surely make its way to the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Screenplay, it’s Ippolito’s acting as Stallone that takes it to another level. His effortless transformation into the character, from voice to physical mannerisms, was unbelievable. Ippolito’s performance never felt unnatural. It’s going to be really hard not to give him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

If you have any reservations about seeing a film about the making of a film, don’t. I Play Rocky is incredible, anchored by Anthony Ippolito’s outstanding performance. Go see it. It’s worth every penny to see it in theaters.

This film was screened at the 25^th Annual San Diego International Film Festival on October 16.

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is a 2x award-winning writer, International Boxing Hall of Fame voter, founder and publisher of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms, including online, network TV, and promotional companies. He is an alumnus of an American Public University and a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, and contributed to The Ring Magazine, FanSidedMMA, and ProBoxTV.

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