Peter Farrelly's last TIFF premiere, Green Book, took home the People's Choice Award and later the Academy Award for Best Picture. I Play Rocky, which held its world premiere in the Special Presentations program at the Princess of Wales Theatre, has drawn early comparisons to that trajectory.
At the center of it is Anthony Ippolito, 27, from Long Island, playing Sylvester Stallone in the years Stallone fought to both write and star in the original Rocky. The film dramatizes Stallone's refusal to sell the script without the condition that he play the lead. Ippolito, who previously played Al Pacino in Paramount+'s The Offer, has built a niche: embodying film's most mythologized performances.
His path to this role is part of the story. Before he had a script, Ippolito shot an unsolicited audition tape. "I hung a heavy bag in my grandma's basement," he told The Wrap, filming scenes with a friend and his cousin before his agent submitted the tape. The casting director took notice; formal auditions followed.
Stephan James plays Apollo Creed and his real-world counterpart, Carl Weathers. Tracy Letts plays a composite studio executive. P.J. Byrne and Toby Kebbell appear as producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff. The screenplay is by Peter Gamble.
Amazon MGM Studios releases I Play Rocky in select theaters November 6, with wide expansion to follow.
