Amid the new trailers and announcements at CinemaCon, we also learned that a new Sylvester Stallone movie is still in the works. This isn’t a movie starring, written by, or directed by Stallone: it’s about Stallone. I Play Rocky, a biopic about the actor’s struggles getting his breakout film Rocky made, is still in development at Amazon MGM Studios. MovieWeb reports that Oscar-winner Peter Farrelly is attached to direct the film.

Farrelly, who won Oscars for co-writing and producing Green Book, which he also directed, is set to take the director’s seat for I Play Rocky, which will detail how struggling actor Stallone wrote and sold a script about a Philadelphia boxer to United Artists, and even convinced the studio to let him star in it, too. The film is set to be produced by veteran Hollywood hand Toby Emmerich (Game Night), while Peter Gamble (Trenches, Office Uprising) is penning the script. Notably, the film does not seem to involve Stallone himself in any way, either in front of or behind the camera.

How Did ‘Rocky’ Get Made?

Stallone wrote the script for Rocky in three and a half days in 1975. He initially had Henry Winkler, who co-starred with him in The Lords of Flatbush, take it to ABC; they bought it but then planned to have it rewritten, prompting Stallone to return the money. He then sold it to United Artists, who wanted an established star for the lead role, like James Caan; Stallone ultimately prevailed. The film was ultimately made for a little over $1 million USD, and detailed the story of would-be boxer and part-time mob goon Rocky Balboa and the people in his orbit, including his crusty trainer, Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith); his friend and promoter, Paulie (Burt Young); and Paulie’s sister, shy pet store employee Adrian (Talia Shire), who Rocky’s falling in love with. Rockey gets a title shot out of nowhere against flashy world champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), and soon finds himself in the fight of his life. Directed by John Avildsen and featuring a stirring score by Bill Conti, Rocky was a smash hit, earning $225 million worldwide to become the biggest box office hit of 1976. It won Best Picture at the Oscars and spawned eight sequels (and counting).

Biopic or not, Stallone is remaining busy these days. A third season of his Paramount+ TV series Tulsa King is in the works, and he wrote and produced last month’s Jason Statham action hit A Working Man.

I Play Rocky is in development; no casting or release date hs yet been announced.

via Collider