New 'I Play Rocky' Trailer Shows Anthony Ippolito Fighting for the Role of a Lifetime as Sylvester Stallone

Hollywood loves a good underdog story, and few are as famous as the one behind ‘Rocky‘. Before the 1976 boxing drama became a Best Picture winner and a franchise that spawned sequels and the ‘Creed’ spinoffs, it was a script written by a struggling actor who refused to sell it unless he could star in it.

That true story is the subject of ‘I Play Rocky’, Amazon MGM Studios’ biographical drama directed by Peter Farrelly, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind ‘Green Book’. The movie follows a young, unknown Sylvester Stallone as he fights to bring his vision to the screen, and it arrives in theaters nearly 50 years to the day after the original ‘Rocky’ premiered.

Now audiences have another look at what to expect. A new trailer for ‘I Play Rocky’ has been released, giving a closer view of Anthony Ippolito’s performance as Stallone, a role that has already earned him festival attention.

The trailer leans into the same underdog spirit as the original film. Stallone, unable to get hired as an actor, writes a script for himself over a matter of days, then insists that no one else can play the part. Studio heads push back repeatedly, and the film shows what it took for him to hold the line.

The real history backs it up. Stallone wrote ‘Rocky’ in about three days, and United Artists eventually agreed to cast him after he rejected a six-figure offer for the film rights. The movie was made for under $1 million, became the biggest box office hit of 1976 and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

A new trailer for ‘I PLAY ROCKY’ has been released. Starring Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone. https://t.co/8O1U5t4CtO
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 22, 2026

Ippolito, who previously played Al Pacino in the Paramount+ series ‘The Offer’, which chronicled the making of ‘The Godfather’, takes on Stallone this time. Stephan James plays Carl Weathers, the actor who became Apollo Creed, while AnnaSophia Robb plays Stallone’s first wife, Sasha Czack, and Matt Dillon plays his father, Frank Stallone Sr.

The supporting cast also includes Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass and PJ Byrne, along with Kiki Seto as Talia Shire and Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith. Peter Gamble wrote the screenplay, and Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha are producing with Farrelly.

The film has already screened for audiences. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and opened the Hamptons International Film Festival, where Ippolito received a Breakthrough Performer Award. Variety’s review praised the film as a crowd-pleaser and said Ippolito gets the role just right.

That early response matters for a film that has to balance nostalgia with originality. Rather than recreating ‘Rocky’, the movie explores what happened behind the cameras, including the moments when the production came together.

The project also marks a shift for Farrelly. He is best known for comedies like ‘There’s Something About Mary’ and ‘Dumb and Dumber’, and he won Best Picture for ‘Green Book’, but his recent work has leaned toward R-rated comedies such as ‘Ricky Stanicky’ and ‘Balls Up’. ‘I Play Rocky’ returns him to more dramatic territory.

That blend of warmth and humor could be a good fit for a story that is, at heart, about persistence. The trailer suggests the film finds both the comedy and the stakes in Stallone’s long odds.

According to listings, ‘I Play Rocky’ opens in select theaters on November 6, with a wider release to follow later in the month on November 20. The film runs about 2 hours and 8 minutes, and it will play across the same stretch of November that saw ‘Rocky’ debut back in 1976.

Amazon MGM Studios is positioning the film as one of several big theatrical releases on its slate for 2026 and 2027, and the timing around the anniversary gives it a built-in hook.

Backstage stories about classic movies tend to work best when they speak to something bigger. In this case, that is the idea that betting on yourself can pay off, even when everyone tells you no.

For fans of the original, the trailer offers the chance to see how that story came together. For newcomers, it offers a classic underdog tale with a Hollywood twist.