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Anthony Ippolito debuts his performance as a young Sylvester Stallone in the trailer for I Play Rocky
The new movie follows the development and production of 1976’s Rocky, which catapulted Stallone to stardom
I Play Rocky is in theaters in November
Fifty years after Sylvester Stallone kick-started his own career with the movie Rocky, Anthony Ippolito is playing the actor in a movie that takes audiences behind the scenes of the iconic boxing movie’s development and production.
On Wednesday, July 15, Amazon MGM Studios released a trailer for I Play Rocky, which stars Ippolito, 26, as a young Stallone, eager to prove himself in Hollywood with a handwritten script for the original 1976 Rocky movie.
Directed by Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly (Green Book) and written by Peter Gamble, the movie depicts the behind-the-scenes difficulties and dramas that Stallone, now 80, went through while trying to get Rocky made.
I Play Rocky “is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa,” reads an official synopsis for the movie. “Told ‘no’ at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.”
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AnnaSophia Robb costars with Ippolito in I Play Rocky as Sasha Czack, Stallone’s first wife, whom he was married to in the 1970s and ‘80s. (The former couple share sons Sage, who died in 2012 at 36, and Seargeoh, 46.)
Stephan James portrays Carl Weathers, who played the boxer Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise. Weathers himself died at 76 in 2024. The movie’s cast also includes Matt Dillon as Frank Stallone Sr., as well as Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Kiki Seto, P.J. Byrne and more.
Stallone famously starred in Rocky, which he wrote himself and demanded to lead in the starring role, after working in Hollywood for roughly seven years. The movie was an instant hit and won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing at the 1977 Oscars.
Anthony Ippolito in the ‘I Play Rocky’ trailerCredit: Amazon MGM Studios/Youtube
Stallone was nominated for his leading performance and for writing the movie’s screenplay.
The movie spawned one of Hollywood’s longest-running franchises as Stallone went on to make six movies in the main Rocky series, and Michael B. Jordan took up the mantle as Adonis Creed — the son of Weathers’ character — with the three Creed movies, released between 2015 and 2023.
Ippolito, interestingly, is best known for portraying another ‘70s icon — Al Pacino — in the 2022 miniseries The Offer, which depicted the production of The Godfather. He most recently appeared on the big screen in the 2022 movie Purple Hearts. In real life, Stallone is releasing a memoir titled The Steps on Sept. 29.
I Play Rocky is in theaters in November.
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