All of a sudden there’s a lot of interest in a movie no one was taking seriously.
That’s Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky,” the story of how the Oscar winning movie, “Rocky,” was made back in 1975.
Anthony Ippolito, a dead ringer for a young Sylvester Stallone, plays the actor who wrote the screenplay and starred in the film. It was the beginning of an enduring franchise that covered six or seven movies, as well as the trio of “Creed” films.
Farrelly’s movie, “Green Book,” won Best Picture a few years ago. He even won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay. And that was after making a bunch of hit comedies like “Dumb and Dumber.”
Irwin Winkler bought the rights to “Rocky” before Day 1, and still owns the rights. He even produced the “Creed” movies. So you’d think he was involved in “I Play Rocky” as another chapter in the Rocky-verse.
“No,” he told me today, laughing. “I have nothing to do with it. I’m a character in the movie, but we all are because we’re all public people. An actor plays me” — PJ Byrne — “but that’s it.”
Winkler did tell me he’s seen “I Play Rocky.” And? “It’s very good. I really liked it. They did a great job.”
He says Amazon MGM will re-release the original “Rocky” for its 50th anniversary in November, in concert with the new movie. So he’s excited about that. “But I wasn’t going to produce this one. They came with the idea, and we said, Do it.”
And Sylvester Stallone? “I don’t think he gets anything for it, either,” Winkler. “But I heard he really liked it, too.”
Could lightning strike twice for “Rocky” 50 years after its release? Maybe. Farrelly certainly knows what works. And so far the trailer looks very promising.
PS Winkler, who’s 95 and not retired, will be at the premiere.
