\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tAnthony Ippolito as a young\u00a0Sylvester Stallone\u00a0in \u2018I Play Rocky\u2018 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmazon MGM Studios<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe footage reveals a struggling actor with a partially paralyzed face and a speech impediment who writes a script that a big movie studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell it unless he gets to play the lead.\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t even know that that means,\u201d says a would-be producer. \u201cYou don\u2019t have the looks and you talk like you have rocks in your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI put my heart and soul on the page,\u201d says Rocky. Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role.\u00a0There are tons of stressful strings attached that constantly threaten to derail the project. The movie, Rocky<\/em>, becomes the biggest box office hit of 1976, notching 10 Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture.<\/p>\n \n\tYes, he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia art museum.<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s often a wise teacher lurking in the past \u2014 in this case when the future actor was a young boy trying to fit it with a more popular name. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call yourself Mike,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of Mikes in the world. There is one one Sylvester. Sylvester Stallone.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe\u00a0Rocky<\/em>\u00a0franchise, distributed by United Artists and later MGM, is one of the most iconic and financially successful sports film franchises of all time, grossing more than $1.7 billion globally, including the\u00a0Creed<\/em>\u00a0spinoffs. Created by and starring Stallone as underdog boxer Rocky Balboa, the franchise launched in 1976 with the original film winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Original Screenplay. His performance and creative vision turned\u00a0Rocky<\/em>\u00a0into a cultural touchstone and established him as a Hollywood legend.<\/p>\n![\"Anthony](\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-deadline-2019\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.jpg\")
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