Farrelly's 'I Play Rocky' Stuns at TIFF, Eyes Oscars — SkimNews
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- Peter Farrelly directed 'I Play Rocky,' an Amazon MGM Studios film that premiered at TIFF to rapturous applause, with pundits declaring its Best Picture nomination a 'when,' not an 'if.'
- Anthony Ippolito stars as a down-and-out Sylvester Stallone who eventually writes the 'Rocky' screenplay after meeting his first wife Sasha (AnnaSophia Robb), with the film's ending featuring real-life footage of the Oscars.
- Jay Duplass plays real-life 'Rocky' director John Avildsen and Tracy Letts plays fictional composite executive Sandy Maddox, delivering the film's sharpest lines including digs at Paramount Pictures.
- Peter Gamble wrote the screenplay, his first studio film, earning early awards buzz from Farrelly — a Best Original Screenplay Oscar winner for 'Green Book.'
- Amazon faces a dual Best Picture campaign choice, with spring hit 'Project Hail Mary' identified as the stronger candidate despite skipping the festival circuit that helps build Oscar momentum.
- The film competes against Lionsgate's 'Michael' (the Michael Jackson biopic), which holds a major advantage with a billion-dollar gross that 'I Play Rocky' would need to overcome.
- In already crowded races for Best Director and Best Actor, the film is a dark horse even after its TIFF reception, with its crowdpleaser profile better suited to Best Picture than individual categories.
Why it matters: Amazon MGM is effectively choosing between two Best Picture campaigns: 'I Play Rocky,' a Stallone origin story with festival heat but no box-office windfall, versus 'Project Hail Mary,' its spring crowdpleaser that bypassed the festival-to-Oscar pipeline. The studio's allocation of awards spend, plus the Stallone biopic's head-to-head with Lionsgate's billion-dollar-grossing 'Michael,' will shape the Best Picture field from a film that literally ends at the ceremony itself.
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