EXCLUSIVE: Stephan James (If Beale Street Could Talk) has signed on to star opposite Anthony Ippolito in I Play Rocky, Amazon MGM Studios‘ film looking at the making of 1977 Best Picture Oscar winner, Rocky.
In the film directed by Academy Award winner Peter Farrelly, which is being made for theatrical release, James will play the role of Carl Weathers, Sylvester Stallone’s co-star in the boxing franchise, which he architected. As previously announced, Ippolito is set for the role of a young Stallone.
Written by Peter Gamble, I Play Rocky tells the true story of an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky — he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told no at every turn, Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
A professional football player turned actor, Weathers played the iconic role of Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion antagonist to underdog Rocky, in the original Rocky from director John G. Avildsen. He went on to reprise the part in three more installments before his character’s death in Rocky IV (1985), though Apollo’s legacy has been carried forward by Michael B. Jordan, who stars as the boxer’s son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed, in MGM’s recent trilogy of Creed films released by Warner Bros.
A cultural touchstone that established Stallone as a Hollywood legend, the Rocky franchise, distributed by United Artists and later MGM, remains one of the most iconic and financially successful sports film franchises of all time, with $1.7 billion in grosses between the original films and their Creed spin-offs.
Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha will produce I Play Rocky, with FilmNation Entertainment handling production services and international sales.
Known for starring in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, as well as the Sam Esmail-EP’d Prime Video thriller series Homecoming, for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination, James plays the title character in the indie drama Ricky from writer-director Rashad Frett, which premiered to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Next to be seen starring opposite Alan Ritchson in Netflix’s sci-fi actioner War Machine, the actor is repped by Range Media Partners, CAA, HillTop Entertainment, and Jackoway Tyerman.
