I Play Rocky has its world premiere at TIFF on Saturday, September 12. Anthony Ippolito plays a young Sylvester Stallone, years before Rocky turned him into a star, in a film directed by Peter Farrelly.
The movie focuses on the fight behind the first Rocky: Stallone had written the screenplay, studios wanted it, and he refused to sell unless he could play Rocky Balboa himself.
Who plays Sylvester Stallone?
Anthony Ippolito takes the role. He previously played Al Pacino in The Offer, a series about the making of The Godfather, so this is not his first time portraying a famous actor before the world knew him.
Ippolito does resemble Stallone, but the film needs more than the voice and posture people recognize. The story happens before Stallone had the confidence, money, or public image that came after Rocky. Ippolito is playing the hungry actor who kept hearing no.
What is I Play Rocky about?
The film dramatizes Stallone’s attempt to get Rocky made while holding onto the lead role. He was not an established box-office name, and producers could have financed the movie more easily with someone else. Stallone’s refusal became part of the Rocky legend after the film opened in 1976 and won Best Picture.
Peter Farrelly directs from a screenplay by Peter Gamble. Rather than retelling Rocky Balboa’s fictional boxing career, I Play Rocky stays with the real negotiations, auditions, relationships, and compromises around the production.
Who else is in the cast?
Matt Dillon, AnnaSophia Robb, P.J. Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, and Stephan James join Ippolito. Robb plays Stallone’s first wife, Sasha Czack, while James plays Carl Weathers, the actor who became Apollo Creed.
Those roles let the movie cover more than one man forcing his way into a starring part. Rocky depended on the people around Stallone, including the performers whose chemistry made Balboa, Adrian, and Apollo work on screen.
When can audiences see I Play Rocky?
The TIFF premiere is scheduled for September 12 at 6 p.m. at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Amazon MGM Studios will release the film in select U.S. theaters on November 6, followed by a wider theatrical rollout later in November.
That release comes almost 50 years after Rocky reached theaters in November 1976. The original film turned a modest boxing drama into a Best Picture winner and a long-running franchise, but I Play Rocky goes back to the point when none of that success was guaranteed.
The first trailer sells the resemblance, the rejection letters, and the decision that defined Stallone’s career. The TIFF premiere will show whether Ippolito can carry the person behind that familiar story for a full movie.
