New Trailer Alert: I PLAY ROCKY |

October 28, 2026 • 0 Comments

New Trailer Alert: I Play Rocky

I love a good movie about the making of a good movie.

This isn’t the usual movie I promote here at Life After Gateway … after all, it isn’t exactly in my favourite genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Horror, or Suspense. It’s the dramatized true story of the genesis of Rocky, with an actor portraying Sylvester Stallone, but the trailer’s mood and emotion just rings true. It’s powerful. It’s emotional, and it seems fun. Let’s face it, after watching Stallone’s long and extensive career, he made all the right moves on Rocky, and this movie puts them in focus for us to see.

And it looks great.

It looks uplifting, heartwarming, and charming, all at the same time.

It premiered at TIFF a few weeks ago, and earned rave reviews, like this one, from JoBlo:

I Play Rocky was a knockout. It’s easily director Peter Farrelly’s greatest film (which isn’t throwing shade at his classic comedies or Green Book, all of which I dug), with it being a loving homage to both Stallone and his most enduring creation, Rocky Balboa. We tend to forget just how big of a gamble Sly took when he stipulated that if Rocky was made at all, he would play the lead. It’s almost unfathomable now, as no one in their right mind would turn down the kind of money he was offered at a time when he was so broke he couldn’t even afford dog food.

Movie Details

The story, as per IMDB:

A true story of an unknown actor who believed he wasn’t meant to just write Rocky, but to play Rocky Balboa. Facing constant rejection, Sylvester Stallone risks everything, refusing to give up the lead role against impossible odds.

Studio: Amazon MGM Studios
Director: Peter Farrelly (Green Book)
Writer: Peter Gamble
Cast: Anthony Ippolito (Purple Hearts), Matt Dillon (There’s Something About Mary), AnnaSophia Robb (Rebel Ridge), P.J. Byrne (The Boys)
Release: 20 November 2026

I’m also highlighting this film today at Life After Gateway because of the overall message that Sylvester Stallone’s career-defining role has for us, from Rocky Balboa (2006):

“It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

The Trailer

Here’s the fantastic trailer. It doesn’t matter what Rocky is your favourite — mine is actually Rocky IV, because of its nature as pure escapist entertainment — I know you will enjoy this trailer. It’s a great story of an underdog achieving greatness, and Stallone’s career is clearly one of success that mirrors that of Rocky Balboa himself.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 28 October 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007