by Alex Billington
July 15, 2026
Source: YouTube
“This movie is about having to believe in yourself… It’s about going the distance. I put my heart & soul on the page. If I’m not willing to live up to what I wrote, then what’s the point. So – do you believe in me? Or not?” Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the official trailer for a movie called I Play Rocky, a story about the making of the boxing movie classic Rocky (1976) following a young Stallone as he writes the script and makes his acting debut in it. Anthony Ippolito stars as a young Sylvester Stallone, working on the streets of Philly, who decides to write his own script and make his mark playing the underdog boxer in this story. It also goes through the production and filming and release of the movie, showing Hollywood never believing in it until it became a massive hit ($117M at the box office in 1976). Ippolito stars as Sly, with Stephan James as Carl Weathers, AnnaSophia Robb as Sasha Czack, Matt Dillon, P.J Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Erik Palladino, Jay Duplass, Kiki Seto, and Robert Morgan. I Play Rocky hits theaters this November – right in the middle of the fall aiming for a wide release by Thanksgiving. This looks pretty good so far! His voice is a bit amusing, but the rest of it looks like an inspiring underdog-makes-a-film story.
Here’s the first official trailer for Peter Farrelly’s film I Play Rocky, direct from Amazon MGM’s YouTube:
The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie. I Play Rocky is directed by the comedy filmmaker Peter Farrelly, director of Green Book, The Greatest Beer Run Ever, Ricky Stanicky, Balls Up on his own recently, plus the co-director on Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There’s Something About Mary, Me Myself & Irene, Osmosis Jones, Shallow Hal, Stuck on You, Fever Pitch, The Heartbreak Kid, Hall Pass, The Three Stooges, and Dumb and Dumber To. The screenplay is written by Peter Gamble. It’s produced by Christian Baha, Toby Emmerich, Paul Currie, Peter Farrelly. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals yet or elsewhere, as far as we know. Amazon MGM Studios debuts Farrelly’s I Play Rocky in select US theaters starting November 6th, 2026, expanding in wide release later in November this fall. 🥊 Look any good?
