I Play Rocky Pits Its Spec Script Against an Adapted-Category Debate
Summary
Peter Gamble wrote the film as an original, but it borrows Rocky's characters and restages scenes from Stallone's 1976 hit.
"Peter Gamble's screenplay for I Play Rocky, Peter Farrelly's film about Sylvester Stallone's fight to make Rocky, has set off a debate over whether it belongs in the Oscars' original or adapted screenplay race, Variety reported. Gamble, a WGA member, wrote the script on spec as an original that is ""not based on any single published work,"" NewsBytes reported, summarizing the debate.
The complication is that the film features Rocky Balboa, Adrian and Apollo Creed and recreates scenes from the 1976 original, which has led to speculation that it fits the adapted category. Because the film was not made under a WGA signatory agreement, the guild cannot classify the screenplay or consider it for its own awards, leaving the decision to the Academy's Writers Branch executive committee, which has departed from guild classifications before.
The film, a runner-up for the People's Choice Award in Toronto, opens the Cairo International Film Festival on Wednesday, Arab News reported."
