Bold claim — director says a new movie tops Stallone’s Oscar winner on story

The world hardly needs another underdog boxing film, but I Play Rocky isn't actually about the ring — it's about Sylvester Stallone flailing behind the scenes, trying to get Rocky off the ground before anyone had heard of the Italian Stallion. Director Peter Farrelly is not shy about saying the real story is even more of a cliffhanger than any of Stallone's iconic montages.

The Underdog Beats the Underdog

Farrelly laid out his case during a chat with Collider at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), insisting Stallone’s life before Rocky was pretty grim — to the point that a few studio types questioned whether those details would drag the film down. He disagreed, arguing it’s crucial to understand just how far Stallone had to climb.

This is how Farrelly put it, painting Stallone’s misery in vivid colour:

That was a debate, and the studio at one point was like, ‘Do we really want that in there?’ I said 100%, because that's where he came from. That's the low. And, to me, this is what I love about this movie. Stallone's life mirrors Rocky's life so much during that time.

He went on to point out that, compared to Stallone, Rocky Balboa practically had it easy — at least Rocky had a steady job of sorts (leaning on the less glamorous side, sure, but still). Stallone, meanwhile, was hawking his own dog to survive; the man was properly skint. The difference: Rocky might go the distance in the ring, but Stallone actually triumphed, watching his script become an Oscar winner and launching a career from literal rock bottom.

Star Power and Oscar Buzz

Farrelly’s gamble appears to be paying off already. I Play Rocky premiered at TIFF, where it collected standing ovations and — rather predictably — kicked off the first wave of early Oscar hype. Word is, Anthony Ippolito delivers a punchy turn as Stallone, capturing that point where he was just about invisible in Hollywood, desperate for a break.

I Play Rocky arrives in UK cinemas on 6 November 2026.

Here’s the core cast list:

• Anthony Ippolito as Stallone (agonising through rejection, animal sales, and creative stubbornness)
• AnnaSophia Robb plays Sasha Czack, Stallone’s first wife
• Matt Dillon as the elder Stallone (Sylvester’s dad)
• Tracy Letts and Jay Duplass filling out supporting roles

The film’s written by Peter Gamble and focuses tightly on Stallone’s worm’s-eye-view of the Hollywood system: he’s got a killer screenplay but almost nothing else, and it’s his stubbornness — flat-out refusing to sell the script if he couldn’t play the main role — that flips the whole story from embarrassment to triumph. It’s all very metatextual, and yes, if you’re a fan of ‘difficult men’ narratives, this is right up your street.