Rocky Making-Of Movie Casts Anthony Ippolito As Stallone

Rocky is getting ready to return to the ring. But this time, it’s not via another sequel or Creed spin-off – upcoming movie I Play Rocky will follow star Sylvester Stallone as a youthful actor, before he became the stuff of big-screen boxing legend, as he fights for the right to play the titular character in his first feature screenplay. The film has now officially found its youthful Sly in Anthony Ippolito, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed, who has form for playing cinematic heavyweights as they shoot legendary movies after appearing as Al Pacino in the 2022 The Godfather making-of series, The Offer.

Rocky was a true underdog story, both in its content and its very being, with Stallone writing the script in just three days when he was a broke actor struggling to find roles. Producers quickly came on board after reading it, but didn’t want the then-unknown Sly playing the lead, wanting instead to cast a bigger name. Stallone persevered, refusing to sell the script unless he could star in it too. They eventually relented, and Rocky has since become one of the most iconic franchises in movie history, earning over $1.7 billion at the global box office across six Rocky films and three Michael B Jordan-starring Creed instalments.

I Play Rocky, produced by Amazon MGM Studios, will dramatise the process, with Peter Gamble writing the screenplay and Green Book and Dumb And Dumber director Peter Farrelly behind the camera. Amazon MGM plan to release the film in cinemas, though there’s no date (or any cast other than Ippolito) confirmed yet. Here’s hoping it’s a knockout.