I Play Rocky revealed as London Film Festival’s surprise screening

I Play Rocky was revealed as the BFI London Film Festival’s 2026 surprise film and screened at Royal Festival Hall in London on Friday evening, October 16. Director Peter Farrelly introduced the drama, which follows Sylvester Stallone’s efforts to make the 1976 film Rocky, giving festival audiences a screening ahead of its planned theatrical release.

Peter Farrelly introduces I Play Rocky

Farrelly appeared on stage before the screening, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. He told the audience that Peter Gamble’s script had shown him parts of the story he had not known, and said Stallone’s experience making Rocky echoed the film’s fictional underdog story. Gamble wrote the screenplay for I Play Rocky.

The cast also includes Matt Dillon as Stallone’s father, Frank Stallone Sr.; AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s wife, Sasha Czack; P.J. Byrne as Rocky producer Irwin Winkler; and Jay Duplass as director John G. Avildsen. Their roles place the new film around the people involved in the original production, rather than the fictional boxing matches depicted in Rocky.

From Toronto premiere to November cinema release

I Play Rocky premiered at the Toronto film festival last month, where it competed for the People’s Choice Award, Variety reported. Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman praised Ippolito’s portrayal, writing that his performance was ‘more than just an awesome impersonation.’ That assessment concerned the film, not the response to Friday’s London screening.

Farrelly also told the London audience that Stallone liked the film, according to Variety. ‘No matter how well the movie does, how many people like it, if Stallone said, “I don’t like it,” I would be really disappointed,’ Farrelly said. Variety reported that I Play Rocky is scheduled to open in U.S. and U.K. cinemas on November 6.