I Play Rocky brings young Stallone story to Toronto ahead of November release
The fight to get Rocky made is now a film in its own right.
I Play Rocky screened in Special Presentations at the Toronto International Film Festival ahead of a cinema release on Friday, Nov. 6. The Amazon MGM Studios film dramatises the behind-the-scenes making of Rocky as its own underdog story, centred on a young, pre-stardom Sylvester Stallone.
Peter Farrelly directs from a script by Peter Gamble, with Anthony Ippolito starring as Stallone, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The cast listed for the film includes Ippolito alongside AnnaSophia Robb, Jay Duplass and Matt Dillon. Robb plays Sasha, Stallone's first wife.
Dillon plays Frank Stallone, Stallone's brother, according to Amazon MGM Studios. That family detail points to where the film looks for its stakes. It is not about the boxing ring. It is about the rooms where a young actor-writer tried to keep control of his script.
Ippolito arrives with form in this kind of role. He previously played Al Pacino in The Offer, the miniseries about the making of The Godfather. Playing Stallone brought its own pressure. Ippolito said speaking to Stallone before filming was "very overwhelming and daunting," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The early trailer leans into the transformation, describing Stallone's voice as sounding like "you've got rocks in your mouth," as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Toronto gave the film its festival launch. The premiere puts it in front of buyers, press and the public in Special Presentations, the festival's strand for high-profile titles. Reviews followed on Sept. 13 from the trades, with Variety and Deadline publishing alongside The Hollywood Reporter.
For fans, this means a familiar story told from the other side of the camera. The Rocky character is known around the world. This film stays with the writer trying to become the star.
The practical details are set. The film runs 2 hours 8 minutes and is rated PG-13, the US rating that advises parents that some material may suit teenagers rather than younger children. It is dated for Nov. 6, placing it in the Thanksgiving 2026 corridor, a holiday stretch that Amazon MGM Studios claimed for the title earlier this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That date puts it in cinemas three weeks before the US Thanksgiving holiday.
