‘I Play Rocky’ Off to Rousing Box Office Start

Everything’s coming up “Rocky” these days.

The 1976 film is wrapping up its 50th anniversary release in select theaters nationwide. Star Sylvester Stallone has been making the rounds to promote his breakthrough film.

He’s also finally addressing another film opening this month, a film with a deeply personal connection.

“I Play Rocky” is the superstar’s origin story. The movie takes us behind the scenes of “Rocky,” specifically capturing the battles that led up to the film’s creation. A young Stallone, eager to break into show business, had landed a few minor roles at the time but craved something more.

Stardom.

He famously wrote the screenplay for “Rocky” in just a few days. A major studio loved the script, but executives wanted a star to play the title role.

Think Reynolds, O’Neal or Eastwood. Stallone wasn’t a star by any stretch of the imagination.

RELATED: THESE INSANE ‘ROCKY’ FACTS ARE JUST PLAIN FUN

The rest is film history, but “I Play Rocky” is drawing early raves from most movie critics. The film has an 88 percent “Fresh” rating at RottenTomatoes.com.

This critic saw “I Play Rocky” at the Denver Film Festival late last month. The crowd erupted in cheers when the end credits kicked in.

Expect more of the same moving forward. 

The producers of “I Play Rocky” initially set out to conduct a worldwide search for a lead actor to play Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone. Instead, they discovered their star via a self-tape he filmed in his grandma’s basement. https://t.co/sL2aQ6nXvl

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 8, 2026

The movie opens wide Nov. 20, but hit just seven movie houses over the weekend. The early numbers are more than promising – the film earned $344K in that very limited release.

That’s nearly $50K per theater, a huge tally.

A few roadblocks stand in the way of the film’s Oscar dreams. Director Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” won the Best Picture Oscar in 2019, but the elites looked down at the film’s depiction of race and reconciliation.

Farrelly previously directed “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary” and “Kingpin.” He’s not seen as an auteur or Oscar-worthy talent.

That’s unfair but true.

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More importantly, Stallone previously spoke kindly of President Donald Trump after spending decades avoiding political matters. Some may hold that against the movie moving forward.

Both the far-Left AV Club and Slate have published hit pieces on the actor in recent days. The former played up his Trump connection and recent Kennedy Center Honors win.

Stallone richly deserved the latter. 

“Green Book” won the Best Picture Oscar despite select snobbery. Could “I Play Rocky” do the same?