- Sylvester Stallone struggled for years to get Rocky made
- The 1977 film made Stallone a star and is now regarded as a classic
- Peter Farrelly will be directing the movie
The story behind how Sylvester Stallone struggled to get the first Rocky movie made is to become a film itself, with MGM Amazon moving forward with the project.
Rocky is one of the great underdog stories in cinematic history – telling the story of how a hard-up boxer manages to get a shot at the world title. But the story behind how the film got to be made in the first place is just a much of an underdog triumph – and now viewers will get the chance to see it.
I Play Rocky moving forward
While news of a film called ‘I Play Rocky’ has been around for about a year – Deadline and others reported on it last May – it is only now that Amazon MGM has confirmed that it is moving forward with the project.
Peter Farrelly is on board to direct the movie – his is best known for Green Book – with a script penned by Peter Gamble.
It hasn’t as yet been confirmed if Stallone himself will be involved in the movie as it is, essentially, a biopic of the actor. Likewise, there is no word on who will be playing the young Stallone in the movie.
Underdog story
Stallone wrote the script for Rocky, about the boxer Rocky Balboa, while he was a relatively unknown actor, and struggling badly for money. The script was rejected many times and even when it was given the green light, the movie had a tiny budget (by Hollywood standards) and a short deadline to be shot.
Stallone also refused to let the film be made without him being cast in the lead role – hence the title of the biopic being ‘I Play Rocky’.
But when the film was released in December 1976, it was a worldwide box office hit. The movie became the highest-grossing film of the year, taking $225 million worldwide – a huge figure for the time.
In the following year’s Oscars, Rocky was nominated for 10 awards and won three, including Best Picture.
Since then, Rocky has become regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. It also spawned four sequels between 1979 and 1990.
The franchise has more recently been revived, with Rocky Balboa in 2006, and expanded with three films focusing on Adonis Creed, the son of Apollo Creed, who is mentored by Rocky.
While Stallone has held onto the Rocky role, he did say that if another of his iconic roles, Rambo, was ever recast, there is one actor he would like to see take on the role.
