Sylvester Stallone has reacted to the forthcoming biopic *I Play Rocky*, which dramatises the making of the 1976 film and his role in bringing it to the screen. He said he initially wondered whether a film about his life was premature, but was struck by how closely actor Anthony Ippolito resembled him; Stallone stressed that he had no part in making the biopic.

At a 92NY event promoting his memoir *The Steps*, Stallone said he had offered Ippolito the chance to ask him questions, then left the filmmakers to work independently. He also described *Rocky V* as a lingering disappointment and said he was trying to persuade Amazon to let him recut it. Asked whether he could succeed in Hollywood if starting out now, he said the industry and the kinds of stories it tells have changed, and argued that films such as *The Godfather* were shaped by the social climate of their time.