Before Rocky, there was up and coming actor Slyvester Stallone willing to make something of himself.
Amazon MGM Studios’ I Play Rocky follows a young, unknown Sylvester Stallone as he fights to bring his vision of Rocky to the big screen and to star in it himself.
Directed by Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly (Green Book), the film arrives in theaters November 6, 2026, nearly 50 years to the day after the original Rocky debuted in 1976.
The official synopsis for “I Play Rocky” from Amazon MGM reads: “The film tells the true story of Sylvester Stallone and his unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky, he was meant to be Rocky Balboa.”
Anthony Ippolito stars as an eerily similar Slyvester Stallone, with the film’s supporting cast including Stephan James as Carl Weathers, plus AnnaSophia Robb as Slyvester’s wife Sasha Czack, Matt Dillon as Frank Stallone Sr, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts Jay Duplass and Robert Morgan.
Farrelly directs from a script by Peter Gamble. Toby Emmerich, Christian Baha, and Farrelly produce the film from Fireside Films and Baha Productions.
The trailer also includes some of the iconic scenes from the original: Rocky and Adrienne ice-skating, him training for the big match against Apollo Creed, and him running up the Philadelphia stairs.
If you’re looking for a nostalgia watch, I Play Rocky is the one to look out for.
