Peter Farrelly, the director of “Green Book,” has signed on to direct “I Play Rocky,” a movie that tells the true story of how Sylvester Stallone took a chance on himself to play the iconic role in the film “Rocky,” according to a knowledgeable source.
The screenplay was penned by Peter Gamble. Farrelly is producing alongside former Warner Bros. studio head Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha. The production companies involved are Baha Productions, Fireside Films, and Eden Rock Media.
The casting process is currently in progress. The official summary for “I Play Rocky” states: “A struggling actor with a partially paralyzed face and speech difficulties writes a screenplay that a major film studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell unless he can play the lead role. Instead of accepting a life-changing sum of money, he works for very little to ensure the movie is made with himself as the star. The film becomes a huge box office success in 1976, receiving 10 Academy Award nominations and winning the Best Picture category.”
CAA Media Finance is handling U.S. sales and will present the project at Cannes next week. FilmNation Entertainment is responsible for international sales.
Emmerich commented, “I’ve admired Peter Farrelly as a filmmaker and a person ever since collaborating with him on the music for ‘Dumb and Dumber.’ But it was ‘Green Book’ that made me consider Pete for this inspiring script. Christian Baha and I feel fortunate to have Pete on board for this movie. Similar to the situation with the unknown Stallone in ‘Rocky,’ Pete will be conducting a global search to find another actor who just needs one opportunity — in ‘I Play Rocky’ — to demonstrate their capabilities to the world.”
Baha remarked, “When I initially read Peter Gamble’s lively and moving screenplay, I was aware that it captured something very special. The story of ‘I Play Rocky’ is as extraordinary as Sylvester Stallone himself, an apparent Everyman with an undeniable talent who wants to share it with the world and refuses to accept rejection. Like the hero of our film, Baha Productions required determination and perseverance as we fought for years to turn this project into a reality. We are extremely fortunate to have partnered with Toby Emmerich and Peter Farrelly, two renowned talents who not only share but enhance our vision for the film.”
Farrelly is represented by CAA. Gamble is represented by CAA and Bellevue and Hansen Jacobsen Teller.
Variety originally reported the news.
