‘I Play Rocky’ Gets a New Trailer Ahead of Its Highly Anticipated Release

Making a film about the making of a film is a risky proposition, particularly when the original is as culturally embedded as a 1976 boxing drama that won Best Picture. The pitch here is almost absurdly on the nose: an underdog story about the creation of the ultimate underdog story. The ‘I Play Rocky’ trailer campaign has been building toward a release timed for maximum symbolism.

The film comes from Amazon MGM Studios, directed by Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly from a script by Peter Gamble. It follows a young, unknown Sylvester Stallone fighting to bring his screenplay to the screen while insisting he play the lead himself.

A new trailer arrived on October 22, and it leans hard on something the earlier marketing couldn’t: critical reaction. The spot includes early reviews, with Adam Courtliff of Adam Reviews Films calling it a masterpiece and KTLA-TV’s Scott Mantz describing Anthony Ippolito’s portrayal of Stallone as spectacular

Ippolito’s resemblance has been the talking point since the first footage emerged. The Hollywood Reporter noted that his look is right and the voice, described in the trailer as sounding like he’s got rocks in his mouth, is spot on.

This isn’t his first turn as a 1970s breakout star. Ippolito previously played Al Pacino in Paramount+’s ‘The Offer’, making him something close to Hollywood’s go-to for portraying young Italian American actors of that era. The recognition has followed. He won the Breakthrough Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 29 and received a career award at Rome in October.

A new trailer for ‘I PLAY ROCKY’ has been released. Starring Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone. https://t.co/8O1U5t4CtO

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 22, 2026

The supporting cast reconstructs the world of the original production. Stephan James plays Carl Weathers, with AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s wife Sasha Czack and Matt Dillon as his father Frank Stallone Sr.

Behind-the-scenes figures are well represented too. Toby Kebbell plays producer Robert Chartoff, P.J. Byrne appears as Irwin Winkler, Jay Duplass portrays ‘Rocky’ director John G. Avildsen, and Tracy Letts rounds out the ensemble.

"Believe in the impossible." Check out the new poster for #IPlayRocky starring Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone – Coming to theaters November 6. https://t.co/cQdT6jcoZI

— Fandango (@Fandango) October 16, 2026

The new trailer includes the moment Stallone tells the studio he is meant to play Rocky Balboa after showing them the script, the scene the entire film pivots on. The release strategy signals confidence. The film opens in select theaters on November 6 before expanding wider later in the month, a date moved up by a week from its original November 13 limited bow.

That timing is deliberate. The wider release lands almost exactly 50 years after the original premiered on November 21, 1976. There’s festival momentum behind it. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12 and finished runner-up for the People’s Choice Award, historically a strong Oscar indicator. Reports indicated the studio had seen the film test extremely well before its premiere.

The subject of the biopic responded with characteristic bluntness, reportedly asking whether everyone was jumping the gun given that he isn’t dead yet. For Farrelly, it represents a return to the prestige territory of ‘Green Book’ after recent comedies ‘Ricky Stanicky’ and ‘Balls Up’. Toby Emmerich, Christian Baha and Farrelly produce through Fireside Films and Baha Productions.

Whether the film can replicate the improbable success of its subject remains to be seen, but the setup is hard to resist. An unknown actor betting everything on a role nobody wanted to give him is exactly the story that made the original land in the first place.

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