Sylvester Stallone’s struggle to make the 1976 classic Rocky was a Cinderella story both on and off the screen. The writer/star’s tenacity to realize the film on his terms has been talked about for decades, and is finally chronicled in the Anthony Ippolito-starring biopic I Play Rocky.

Presumably set for release in 2026, the 50th anniversary of the original picture’s release, the upcoming Peter Farrelly-directed film has officially begun production. Announcing this fact through its Instagram, Amazon-MGM Studios provided a first look image of the I Play Rocky’s star in action, seen below:

In addition, this synopsis was also shared:

Production is underway for I PLAY ROCKY, starring Anthony Ippolito. 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.

Based on this first photo, Anthony Ippolito’s likeness to Sylvester Stallone is pretty striking. Strangely enough, this puts the Purple Hearts star 2-for-2 when it comes to playing two iconic actors who made ‘70s history, and looking eerily close to the part. Previously, Ippolito’s role in the Paramount+ original series The Offer had the actor in the role of Al Pacino, during the embattled production of another classic, The Godfather.

Anthony Ippolito stands with his head cocked on set in The Offer S1 E6 - "A Stand Up Guy."

Meanwhile, I Play Rocky saw the man go a bit method when it came to his excitement for the picture. As a previous THR scoop noted, Anthony Ippolito “made an unsolicited audition tape on his own and sent it directly to the producers.” Building a pedigree for this sort of project over the past couple of years, there could even be a chance that the story about bringing Rocky from the page to the Academy Awards may see its young lead lauded with praise himself.

Naturally it’s a little too early to really guess how well I Play Rocky will hit it off with Academy voters. At the time of this writing, there’s no set release date for the project; which will be debuting in theaters. However, theaters will soon see the return of Rocky Balboa in repertory form. That’s thanks to Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut being scheduled to hit theaters (again) on November 4th and 9th.

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