Sylvester Stallone Biopic 'I Play Rocky' Lands Thanksgiving Release Date

Sylvester Stallone will be the subject of a brand new drama titled I Play Rocky, which has just secured a prime release date on Thanksgiving weekend.

Variety reports that Amazon MGM will release the Stallone biopic on November 22, 2026, just one day after the 50th anniversary of Rocky's release back in 1976.

‘I Play Rocky’ Follows a Young Stallone During the Filming of ‘Rocky'

The upcoming drama, directed by Peter Farrelly and written by Peter Gamble, tells the story of Rocky's creation from the perspective of its young star, Sylvester Stallone. In the lead role is Anthony Ipollito, the actor best known for playing a young version of Al Pacino in The Offer.

I Play Rocky's wider cast includes Stephan James as Carl Weathers, who starred alongside Stallone in Rocky as the rival boxer Apollo Creed. Matt Dillon, P.J. Byrne, and Tracy Letts will also feature.

The film will detail Stallone's uphill struggle to get Rocky financed after he wrote the screenplay himself in 1975 and demanded that he would play the lead role. The film ultimately turned out to be Stallone's ticket to stardom, going on to win Best Picture and grossing over $200 million at the box office.

At the time Rocky was written, Stallone was a struggling actor looking to break into the industry. He was reportedly inspired by watching Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Wepner in 1975 and penned the screenplay in just three days afterwards. Studios would not agree to finance the film with Stallone in the lead, so he was forced to make the film for less than $1 million. It remains one of the industry's most staggering success stories.

Speaking about the film in 2024, I Play Rocky's producer Christian Baha claimed: "The story of ‘I Play Rocky’ is as unique as Sylvester Stallone himself, a seeming Everyman with an undeniable gift who needs to share it with the world and refuses to take ‘no’ for an answer.”