‘I Play Rocky’ filmmakers talk recreating a Philly classic on its home turf

💌 Love Philly? So do we. Let’s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today. Nearly 50 years ago, a young Sylvester Stallone jogged through Philadelphia s Italian Market in a gray sweatsuit and caught an orange tossed his way by a produce vendor. On Nov. 2, the famous stretch of South Ninth Street welcomed a different kind of Rocky reunion, this time with the people behind a new movie about how the Philadelphia classic came to be. I Play Rocky, opening in select theaters Nov. 6, tells the story behind the 1976 film that made Stallone a household name and gave Philadelphia one of its most enduring cultural symbols. Before Rocky Balboa could climb the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps, Stallone was a struggling actor trying to convince Hollywood to take a chance on his screenplay. Studios were interested in the script, but not necessarily in its unknown writer playing the lead. Stallone refused to give up the role, even as financial pressures mounted. Directed