While the superhero multiverses take a break to try to conquer the billboard again next season, and having wiped out the entire list of 80s releases based on remakes and late sequels, Hollywood offices are filled with stories about all kinds of celebrities and more or less relevant historical events that try to sneak into the list of the best biopics in the history of cinema.
Now it’s Sylvester Stallone’s turn in general, and ‘Rocky’ (John G. Avildsen, 1976) in particular, thanks to ‘I Play Rocky’, Peter Farrelly’s new film in which, according to Variety, “will follow Stallone long before his action hero days”. They have a difficult time surpassing ‘I made Roque III’ (Mariano Ozores, 1980).
Peter Farrelly, who made history with his brother Bobby with essential Astracanada classics such as ‘Dumb and Dumber’ (1994), ‘What a Couple of Idiots’ (1996), ‘There’s Something About Mary’ (1998) and ‘Me, Myself and Irene’ (2000), took a turn in his career when, alone, he decided to accommodate the masses with the Oscar-winning ‘Green Book’ (2018). After not repeating success with ‘I’m in charge of the beer’ (2022) and ‘Ricky Stanicky’ (2024), he will try telling the story of a Sly willing to do anything to get a film studio to buy the script he has written about a neighborhood boxer who becomes the town’s hero.
Toby Emmerich, former Warner Bros. film chief, will produce the film alongside Christian Baha and Farrelly himself. “I’ve been a fan of Peter Farrelly as a filmmaker and as a person since I worked with him on the music for ‘Dumb and Dumber,'” Emmerich explains. “But it was ‘Green Book’ that made me think of Pete for this inspiring script. We feel blessed to have Pete at the helm of this film. Just as we did when an unknown Stallone starred in ‘Rocky,’ Pete will conduct a global search to discover another actor who just needs a chance on ‘I Play Rocky’ to show the world what he can do.“.
Peter Gamble, the author of the script, is responsible for the horror comedy ‘Zombie Attack’ (Lin Oeding, 2018), available on Prime Video, Movistar Plus+ and Filmin.
“When I first read Peter Gamble’s energetic and moving script, I knew it captured something very special” comments Baha. “The story of ‘I Play Rocky’ is as unique as Sylvester Stallone himself, an everyman with an undeniable gift who needs to share it with the world and refuses to take “no” for an answer. Just like the hero of our film, Baha Productions has taken courage and determination, and has struggled for years to make this project a reality. “We are very fortunate to have partnered with Toby Emmerich and Peter Farrelly, two legendary talents who not only share but enhance our vision for the film.”
‘Rocky’, from independent gem to cultural phenomenon
Although finally the Oscar for best original screenplay that year went to Paddy Chayefsky for his ‘Network, an implacable world’ (Sidney Lumet, 1976), The film written and starring Stallone was nominated for nine statuettes, winning three (Best film, direction and editing) and it became an unparalleled box office success and a cultural phenomenon that, almost 50 years later, is still alive.
- ‘Rocky’ (John G. Avildsen, 1976)
- ‘Rocky II’ (Sylvester Stallone, 1979)
- ‘Rocky III’ (Sylvester Stallone, 1982)
- ‘Rocky IV’ (Sylvester Stallone, 1985)
- ‘Rocky V’ (John G. Avildsen, 1990)
- ‘Rocky Balboa’ (Sylvester Stallone, 2006)
- ‘Believe. The Legend of Rocky’ (Ryan Coogler, 2015)
- ‘Creed II: The Legend of Rocky’ (Steven Caple Jr., 2018)
- ‘Creed III’ (Michael B. Jordan, 2023)
Ricardo Rosado is a film critic, cultural journalist, expert in North American comedy, horror films of any kind and everything that happens between genres and formats. Raised on Steven Spielberg films, and spoiled since he encountered David Lynch, he has been writing for a decade about the art he consumes.
In FOTOGRAMAS you will read him commenting on the latest theatrical releases, promoting peace between Marvel and DC fans, reviewing all the Star Wars news or diving into the depths of the Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video and Filmin catalogues. He also likes to make galleries and rankings of movies and series, but no one trusts his judgment too much.
After studying Audiovisual Communication at the Complutense University of Madrid, he created a film review blog with the hope of attending film festivals and press screenings for free. Now, after seven years writing in FOTOGRAMAS about the latest theatrical releases, current series and any content available on the different streaming channels, she still thinks it was worth it.
Frontman of two embarrassing musical projects, director of various video clips by heavy metal bands from Madrid and author of many short films hidden in the Internet, he is the editor and one of the proud members of the cultural podcast ‘Los de al lado de Pumares’ , a space that has allowed him to participate as a collaborator in other radio formats such as ‘Vamos de cine’ (Castilla-La Mancha Media) and ‘El Faro’ (Cadena SER), in addition to having made him one of the main voices of the videos of FRAMES.
