November 03, 2026
Claire Folger/Amazon MGM Studios
'I Play Rocky' recounts how Sylvester Stallone wrote arguably the most Philly movie of all time and convinced Hollywood producers to let him star in it. The actor is played by Anthony Ippolito, shown above.
"I Play Rocky," the new film about the making of Sylvester Stallone's boxing classic, recreates some of the best-known stories from its 1976 production.
Viewers will see a cash-strapped Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) sell his beloved dog Butkus for $40, only to buy him back at a significant markup when he lands a movie deal. They'll also see him piss off a United Artists executive by refusing to sign a contract for his script unless he gets the lead role, too — even as the studio offers him six figures. But well into "I Play Rocky," the movie puts forward a lesser-known detail, one that most Philadelphians would find blasphemous: "Rocky" was originally set in New York.
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How could this possibly true? Before anyone eggs the Rocky statue, let's clarify: It isn't. "I Play Rocky," opening Friday, spins a bit of Hollywood fiction here for dramatic effect.
In the biopic, producers Irwin Winkler (P.J. Byrne) and Robert Chartoff (Toby Kebbell) insist on relocating "Rocky" from its stated backdrop of New York City to Philadelphia to avoid paying union crews. But word gets back to the union boss anyway, leading to a confrontation in the middle of the famous meat-punching scene. The crew scatters and hides just in time for Winkler and Chartoff to plausibly deny they're filming anything.
While the "Rocky" production did run into trouble for using non-union labor, a quick glance at the first page of the screenplay confirms it's set in Philadelphia. Stallone hammered home the importance of this setting in his recently published memoir "The Steps." By his account, the movie narrowly avoided disaster when the producers suggested they shoot in Beverly Hills, over the strong objection of director John Avildsen.
"I thought, Oh boy, this is going to be a problem," Stallone writes. "From the very first draft, 'Rocky' took place in Philadelphia. This wasn't by chance. I grew up there. I knew the city. I understood what it represented.
"Philadelphia is a town of tough, bare-knuckled, working-class people who fight for everything they have — including respect. Philly folks have always been considered second-class citizens to New Yorkers, and are always out to prove themselves in one way or another, despite the fact that, at one time long ago, Philadelphia was the cultural center of the United States. They city has a big-time chip on its shoulder.
"It's also a city of tough fighters. A 'Philadelphia fighter,' like Joe Frazier and many before him, is someone known for their rugged, two-fisted, take-no-prisoner style. That's Rocky. Philadelphia is part of the whole tapestry of the story."
Avildsen "talked some sense into" into Winkler and Chartoff, per Stallone, and secured Philadelphia as the location. With that hurdle cleared, the crew proceeded to film around the city, piecing together the now-iconic montage of Rocky running along the Schuylkill River, through the Italian Market and up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.
That sequence is recreated in "I Play Rocky," a movie that might pull its punches about Philly, but otherwise takes the legend of Rocky Balboa quite seriously.
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