Writer-director James DeMonaco looked deep into the eye of the tiger for his new film This Is the Night (out on Digital, Sept. 21) about a family whose members are inspired to change their lives by watching a certain Sylvester Stallone film.

"It's 1982, it's Staten Island, New York, it's the day Rocky III opens," the filmmaker tells EW. "It's an incredibly anticipated event in the lives of these Italian-Americans. The movie's a homage to the experience of seeing films in a theater, watching this family, inspired by Rocky III, go out, fight their fears, and be courageous in ways they haven't been courageous before."