The rise of Rocky, both on screen and behind the scenes, has become a Hollywood legend. Now, Amazon MGM is turning that origin story into a feature film, with Anthony Ippolito stepping into the gloves of Sylvester Stallone.
Titled I Play Rocky, the drama will chronicle Stallone’s uphill battle to bring his story to life in 1976. At the time, he was an unknown actor, yet unwavering in his conviction that he was not just the writer of Rocky, but the only man who could play Rocky Balboa. Despite constant rejection, he refused to sell his script unless he could star. The gamble paid off spectacularly when Rocky went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards and spark one of the most lucrative sports franchises in film history, grossing more than US$1.7 billion worldwide across sequels and Creed spin-offs.
Behind the camera is Peter Farrelly, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of Green Book (2019). The project is produced by former Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich alongside Christian Baha, with Peter Gamble (House of Sand and Fog) penning the screenplay. Amazon MGM is planning a theatrical release.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, in a fitting parallel to the film’s underdog spirit, Ippolito is said to have fought for the role with Stallone-like tenacity. After hearing about the project, he created and submitted his own unsolicited audition tape directly to producers, a bold move that ultimately earned him the part.
Ippolito has already shown a knack for portraying icons, having played Al Pacino in Paramount+’s The Offer (2022), a limited series about the making of The Godfather. His other credits include Netflix’s romantic drama Purple Hearts (2022), David Chase’s Not Fade Away (2012), and playing a young version of Adam Sandler’s character in Pixels (2015).
I Play Rocky promises to capture not just the making of an Oscar-winning classic, but also the relentless determination that made Stallone, and his most famous character, symbols of the ultimate underdog triumph.
Conversation with Ting Wei is like chatting with a weird AI bot programmed only with One Piece lore and theories, sitcom quotes and other miscellaneous pop culture references. When he’s not sleeping, he’s highly likely reading manga. In fact, the only thing he reads more than manga is the Bible, and it’s honestly pretty close.
Kevin Low
