Los Angeles, mid-1970s. Sylvester Stallone is a penniless, unknown actor who just can’t seem to break into Hollywood. When he writes a screenplay about a boxer who gets the chance to fight the world champion, film producers immediately recognise its potential. They want to buy the script, but Stallone sets one condition: he will play the lead role himself. The studios would rather have an established star and offer him ever-increasing sums to drop his demand. Despite his financial difficulties, Stallone continues to refuse. He is determined to become his own Rocky Balboa.

In I Play Rocky, director Peter Farrelly (Green Book) brings to life the remarkable true story behind one of the most famous sports films in cinema history. What is now a Hollywood legend began as an almost impossible struggle by an unknown actor against a film industry that had little faith in him.

The parallels between Stallone and his character are striking. Just like Rocky Balboa, Stallone is an underdog who is underestimated time and time again, but refuses to throw in the towel in the ring. Farrelly turns the troubled making of Rocky into a story of artistic stubbornness, perseverance and the price someone is willing to pay to make their dream come true.

In 1976, Rocky became an unexpected box-office hit and won three Oscars, including Best Picture. Stallone became an instant global star and his character grew to become a cultural icon. Fifty years on, I Play Rocky tells the story of how that legend began: not in the boxing ring, but in a young actor’s struggle to tell his own story.