Anthony Ippolito transforms into Sylvester Stallone in Amazon’s I Play Rocky

Amazon MGM Studios has released the first look at I Play Rocky, with The Offer star Anthony Ippolito taking on the role of a young Sylvester Stallone.

The biographical drama tells the behind-the-scenes story of how Stallone fought against all odds to make Rocky — the 1976 boxing film that went on to become one of Hollywood’s greatest underdog success stories.

Directed by Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly (Green Book), I Play Rocky explores Stallone’s relentless determination to not only write but also star in Rocky. In the mid-1970s, the then 29-year-old actor faced rejection after rejection due to his speech impediment and partially paralyzed face. Despite being offered large sums for his screenplay, Stallone refused to sell it unless he could play the lead role. His persistence paid off when Rocky was made for under $1 million — and ultimately won the Oscar for Best Picture, launching Stallone’s iconic career.

The upcoming film will feature Stephan James as Carl Weathers, the actor behind Apollo Creed, alongside AnnaSophia Robb, Matt Dillon, P.J. Byrne, Tracy Letts, and Jay Duplass. Producers include Peter Farrelly, former Warner Bros. executive Toby Emmerich, and Christian Baha. The screenplay is written by Peter Gamble (Office Uprising).

When the project was first announced in 2024, Baha called I Play Rocky “as unique as Sylvester Stallone himself — a story about resilience, belief, and the courage to defy expectations.” The film is currently in production and will trace how one man’s faith in himself forever changed sports cinema.