Amazon MGM Studios has premiered the first trailer for Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky” a biopic about the origin of the seminal 1976 boxing film “Rocky” and the Rocky Balboa character.
Anthony Ippolito plays the young Sylvester Stallone, a struggling actor with a partially paralysed face and a speech impediment who writes a script that a big movie studio wants to buy, but he refuses to sell it unless he gets to play the lead.
Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role. Also starring are Matt Dillon, AnnaSophia Robb, P.J. Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, and Stephan James as Carl Weathers.
“Rocky,” of course, went on to become the biggest box office hit of 1976, landing ten Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture before spawning a successful franchise.
Farrelly directs from a script by Peter Gamble. Farrelly, Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha are producing.
The title will open in limited release on November 13th ahead of a wide release on November 20th to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original “Rocky,” which opened in cinemas on November 21st 1976.
