Young Sylvester Stallone continues his tour of New Jersey this week with more of the cast of the upcoming film “I Play Rocky.”
The Amazon MGM Studios movie, about Stallone’s journey to star in “Rocky,” started filming in Jersey Oct. 15.
Anthony Ippolito, who stars as young Stallone, filmed outside the Ritz Theatre in Elizabeth Tuesday with the dog playing Butkus, Stallone’s bullmastiff, who was Rocky Balboa’s dog in “Rocky.”
Joining them were Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”); AnnaSophia Robb, who plays Stallone’s first wife, Sasha Czack; and Oscar nominee Matt Dillon, who plays Stallone’s father, Frank Stallone Sr.
The movie on the theater’s marquee was the 1973 Robert Altman film “The Long Goodbye.”
“I Play Rocky” is set in the late ’60s through 1976. Ippolito sported a leather jacket and bell bottoms.
The movie, written by Peter Gamble (“Office Uprising”), is about Stallone’s fight to take the lead role in “Rocky” in the face of pressure to cast other actors in the film he wrote. The once-struggling actor and writer bet on himself and it paid off big time.
“Rocky” (1976), directed by John Avildsen, won the Oscar for best picture, director and film editing, grossing $225 million worldwide and starting a long-running movie franchise.
While the real Stallone previously said he has no involvement in “I Play Rocky,” he’s been rooting on the production from social media.
“The movie ‘I play Rocky’ started filming Friday… Good luck to them – keep punching!!!” he said on Instagram (see post below), deploying two boxing glove emojis and sharing a photo of himself with the real Butkus on the beach.
Last week, Ippolito, 26, who previously played Al Pacino in the Paramount+ series “The Offer,” about the making of “The Godfather,” filmed with the dog playing Butkus in Keansburg.
READ MORE: ‘I Play Rocky’ movie about Sylvester Stallone gets full cast in N.J. — see latest call for extras
Stallone, 79, will also be telling his own story in “The Steps,“ his memoir set to be published in May.
Stephan James (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Homecoming”) will appear in “I Play Rocky” as Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in “Rocky.”
The production has put out several calls for local New Jersey extras.
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