Amazon MGM Studios released the first trailer Wednesday for I Play Rocky, a biographical drama about Sylvester Stallone’s fight to write and star in the 1976 boxing classic Rocky. The film opens in select theaters on November 6 and expands nationwide later in November, nearly 50 years after the original Rocky reached theaters.

Anthony Ippolito plays a young Stallone, then an unknown actor who refused to sell his Rocky screenplay unless he could play the lead role himself. Ippolito previously portrayed Al Pacino in The Offer, the Paramount+ limited series about the making of The Godfather.

The trailer draws on well documented episodes from the film’s origin story, including Stallone turning down money he needed in order to keep the starring role. In one scene, Matt Dillon, playing Stallone’s father Frank Stallone Sr., tells his son, “You don’t got the looks to be a movie star.”

Amazon MGM describes the film as “the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.” Stallone’s gamble paid off in 1976, when Rocky was made for under one million dollars, became the year’s highest grossing film, and won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Stallone himself earned nominations for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.

Cast and Production

Peter Farrelly, who won an Academy Award for Green Book, directs from a screenplay by Peter Gamble. Alongside Ippolito and Dillon, the cast includes AnnaSophia Robb as Stallone’s first wife Sasha Czack, Stephan James as Carl Weathers, P.J. Byrne as producer Irwin Winkler, Toby Kebbell as producer Robert Chartoff, Jay Duplass as Rocky director John G. Avildsen, and Kiki Seto as Talia Shire. Tracy Letts also appears. Christian Baha, Toby Emmerich, Paul Currie, and Farrelly produced.

Stallone is not officially involved in the production. The film carries a PG-13 rating for strong language, brief sexual material, and smoking.

Rocky Returns to Theaters

The release coincides with the 50th anniversary of the original film. Amazon MGM Studios, Park Circus, and Fathom Entertainment will bring a remastered 4K version of Rocky back to theaters from November 7 through 11, billed as Rocky 50, with an exclusive look at I Play Rocky attached. Additional details on the trailer and release plans are available from Variety’s coverage of the announcement.