Rocky Balboa is a
2006 American film written and directed by
Sylvester Stallone who also stars as
underdog boxer Rocky Balboa. It is the sixth film in the
Rocky series, which began with the Oscar-winning
Rocky thirty years earlier in 1976. The film portrays Balboa in retirement, a widower living in
Philadelphia, and the owner and operator of a local Italian restaurant called "Adrian's," named after his late wife.
Rocky Balboa was produced as another
sequel to the Academy Award-winning
Rocky. According to Stallone, he was "negligent" in the production of
Rocky V leaving him and many of the fans disappointed with the presumed end of the series. Stallone also mentioned that the storyline of
Rocky Balboa parallels his own struggles and triumphs in recent times.