Anthony Ippolito is lacing up Sylvester Stallone’s gloves. Amazon MGM Studios dropped the first trailer for I Play Rocky on July 15, revealing Ippolito’s transformation into the broke, unknown actor who refused to let Hollywood make Rocky without him in the starring role.
Directed by Peter Farrelly, the biographical drama takes audiences behind the scenes of the 1976 boxing classic. According to USA Today, the footage tracks Stallone’s fight to play Rocky Balboa after writing the screenplay, even as studios pushed for a proven star. Set to the franchise’s instantly recognizable theme, the preview also introduces Stephan James as Carl Weathers, AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s then-wife Sasha Czack, and Matt Dillon as his father, Frank Stallone Sr.
Stallone wrote Rocky after watching Muhammad Ali’s punishing 15-round fight against Chuck Wepner in 1975. Although studios recognized the script’s potential, Stallone refused offers that could have pulled him out of poverty because they required him to relinquish the lead role.
Producers eventually backed the film with a budget of roughly $1 million—and Stallone in front of the camera. That gamble turned Rocky into the highest-grossing domestic film of 1976.
“The film 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,” the official synopsis reads. “Told ‘no’ at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds.”
I Play Rocky marks familiar territory for Ippolito, who previously portrayed a young Al Pacino in Paramount+’s The Offer, which revisited the turbulent production of The Godfather.
Farrelly also brings awards-season experience to the project: His 2018 film Green Book won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The original Rocky received 10 Oscar nominations and collected three trophies, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Stallone’s involvement with the new movie has produced conflicting accounts. In 2025, he said that he had “zero to do with” the project. Farrelly later said Stallone read the script and approved the film during a meeting in Los Angeles. “I’m not gonna make it if you don’t give me the thumbs up,” Farrelly recalled telling him. According to the director, Stallone responded, “Great. Do it.”
I Play Rocky opens in select theaters on Nov. 6, with a wider release later that month.
