"I play Rocky": Anthony Ippolito's Stallone won't sell the script without himself
Peter Farrelly's drama about the making of the 1976 classic gets a second trailer, complete with mortgaged houses and a stubborn young writer.
Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 855,309 views a day, 173 times a normal first day on this channel (4,935).
I Play Rocky | Official Trailer 2
A struggling actor has written a screenplay that producers want. There is one catch, and Anthony Ippolito's Sylvester Stallone delivers it flatly: "Here's the thing. I play Rocky."
That standoff sits at the center of "I Play Rocky | Official Trailer 2," Amazon MGM Studios' new look at Peter Farrelly's film about how Rocky got made. Farrelly is the director who won Best Picture with Green Book. Here he goes back to an underdog story that happened off screen as well as on it.
The trailer opens on a rundown apartment, Stallone's dog Butkus and a run of rejections. "I'm not getting any parts," he says. "I'm going to have to write a script for myself." His wife, Sasha Czack, reads it and sees "something big here." The producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, take a gamble. One of them admits, "We mortgaged our houses." After that come boxing training, a shoot at an ice rink and the famous museum steps in Philadelphia. The cast also includes Toby Kebbell, AnnaSophia Robb, Matt Dillon and Stephan James.
The film it depicts went on to win Best Picture, which gives Stallone's closing question in the trailer, "So do you believe in me or not?", a ready answer for anyone who knows the history.
The trailer passed half a million views in about half a day. That is a long way beyond what the studio's short uploads usually manage, and its comment section is busier than usual by an even wider margin. Viewers joke that Ippolito should be cast in "I Play Rambo" next. They imagine a film decades from now about the making of this one, and they swap notes on rewatching the old Rocky films before it opens. The film reaches select theaters November 6 and opens everywhere November 20.
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What viewers say
They need to cast this dude in "I Play Rambo".
@Rasim9898See it on YouTube30 years later-I play I play Rocky
@AaravR-z5nSee it on YouTubeMaking a movie about making the movie is so iconic
@HeisenbergFamSee it on YouTube
7 more comments
This movie is an absolute tribute to the character who played another actor who played this character back in the day. Hats off
@NivedDeepak-t9qSee it on YouTubeAnyone else rewatching the old Rocky movies in the lead up to this movie?
@JoshuaSanduskySee it on YouTubeWhen a movie’s so iconic we’re getting a movie about making that movie.
@dhanwindersinghrollno48non46See it on YouTubeReally happy to see Anna-Sophia Robb back on what looks to be a prominent project. She is too talented to fade into obscurity.
@MuntakimHaqueSee it on YouTubeI really cant wait to see this. I cant imagine growing up in the 1980's without the movies of Sylvester Stallone, the mans a legend.
@LeShark75See it on YouTubeThe first bio pic I actually really want to see in theaters
@colecostello9661See it on YouTubeThat dude better get a freaking Oscar for his performance as Stallone.
@cjkalandek996See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
- Channel
- Amazon MGM Studios
- Subscribers
- 1,850,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 26,211,304
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,196,141 (on a normal day: 2,616,315)
- Video published
- October 22, 2026
- Video views so far
- 590,600 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 855,309
The numbers
A short trailer that ran far ahead of the studio's usual pace, with a comment section that grew faster still.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which character did Carl Weathers play in Rocky?
Carl Weathers played heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa's opponent in the 1976 film.



