I Play Rocky casts Anthony Ippolito as young Stallone in biopic

Actor Anthony Ippolito is portraying a young Sylvester Stallone in I Play Rocky, a biopic about the making of the 1976 film Rocky that has begun production in New Jersey, Amazon MGM Studios said as it released a first still from the set. The film, directed by Peter Farrelly, is being produced by Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha and follows Stallone’s insistence that he not only write Rocky but also play its lead, a decision that helped turn the low budget picture into a Best Picture winner.

Ippolito, 25, who previously portrayed Al Pacino in the limited series The Offer, landed the role after sending an unsolicited audition tape to the film’s producers, the production team said. He will appear alongside Stephan James as Carl Weathers, AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s first wife Sasha Czack, Matt Dillon as Frank Stallone Sr., PJ Byrne as producer Irwin Winkler and Jay Duplass as director John Avildsen. Tracy Letts and Toby Kebbell are also among the cast, and Peter Gamble wrote the screenplay. FilmNation Entertainment is handling production services and international sales.

The film dramatizes Stallone’s rise from a struggling actor to the creator and star of an underdog story that...