In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), now an aging small restaurant owner, is challenged to an exhibition fight by hothead young boxer Mason Dixon (Tarver).

Rocky Balboa includes references to characters and objects from previous installments, and Stallone was inspired by recent personal struggles and triumphs when writing the film.

Principal photography began in December 2005 and lasted until January 2006, with filming locations including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.

In contrast to previous entries in the franchise, the fight choreography in Rocky Balboa was less scripted, featuring real punches thrown by Stallone and Tarver.

He also battles personal demons involving his grief over Adrian's death and his eroding relationship with his son Robert, now a moderately successful young corporate accountant.

Rocky's relationship with Marie quickly blossoms over the following weeks and he meets and bonds with Steps, providing him with a much-needed buffer for his anguish.

Meanwhile, on the professional boxing circuit, Mason "The Line" Dixon reigns as the undefeated yet unpopular heavyweight world champion, often ridiculed for having never fought a true contender.

This leads to tension with the public and his promoters and encourages him to return to his roots: the small gym he first trained in and his old trainer, who sagely tells him that, inevitably, he will earn back his respect through a true opponent that will test him.

With some hesitation, both men agree to the match, creating a media buzz that stabs at Rocky's age and Dixon's credibility.

The next day, father and son meet over Adrian's grave and reconcile; Robert has quit his job to be at Rocky's side.

Michael Buffer also appears as himself, as the announcer for the match between Rocky and Mason, as do boxing promoter Lou DiBella and Mike Tyson.

So with the advent of new research techniques into brain damage, Rocky was found to be normal among fighters, and he was suffering the results of a severe concussion.

Another recognizable character who appeared in the previous five films, sportscaster Stu Nahan, provided the commentary for the computer-generated fight between Dixon and Balboa.

Nahan was part of the ringside commentary team during all the bouts in the first three films and the Apollo Creed-Ivan Drago fight in Rocky IV.

Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, and Max Kellerman comprise the ringside broadcast team (all three are commentators for HBO Boxing).

As for actual boxers, Mike Tyson (who had retired by the film's release) makes a cameo appearance, taunting Dixon as the fighter enters the ring.

Regarding his decision not to have Talia Shire reprise her role as Adrian Pennino, Stallone told USA Today that, "in the original script, she was alive.

The scene where Rocky and his son were talking while walking down a quiet block was filmed between 20th–21st Streets on Walnut, just after dawn on a Sunday morning.

This was said to have been due to the fact that real punches were thrown by both Stallone and Tarver, resulting in some swelling and nosebleeds earlier than scripted.

[13] Of the original tracks the most significant is the Diane Warren song "Still Here", performed by Bedingfield, which was reported to be the film's theme in early articles.

The full-length trailer accompanied the theatrical release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on July 7 in select theaters.

[20] In 2024, Stallone did some minor recuts to the film, but unlike his significant re-editing of Rocky IV, this director's cut is much more conventional.

[1] Features on the Blu-ray Disc and DVD include deleted scenes along with an alternate ending (where Rocky wins the split decision), bloopers, a commentary and several featurettes.

[23] The film was an unexpected box office success and exceeded studio expectations grossing over three times the opening night estimates of (at best) $2,000,000 and doing so despite a harsh spell of winter weather.

The site's consensus read, "Implausible but entertaining and poignant, Rocky Balboa finds the champ in fighting form for the first time in years.

[42] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times criticized the film's premise as implausible and derivative, and the plot development as cursory.

[43] Colm Andrew of the Manx Independent said the film "captures the look and feel of the first Rocky but becomes too much of a sentimental homage" and overall "there is little point in joining Stallone on this ultimately dull nostalgia trip".

Conceptualized as an epilogue story, the film is said to be about Rocky befriending a young fighter who is a foreigner, stuck illegally in the United States.

[48] In November 2021, Stallone expressed doubt about the film being greenlit, due to his increasingly sour relationship with Irwin Winkler.

[49] In November 2022, Stallone confirmed that the studio wants another Rocky film, but that negotiations to attain part of the rights to the character from the producers stalled development.