Actor Anthony Ippolito to play Sylvester Stallone in Peter Farrelly's 'I Play Rocky'

Los Angeles, Aug 28 (PTI) Actor Anthony Ippolito, known for starring in series "The Offer" as well as films like "Purple Hearts" and "Pixels", will play a young Sylvester Stallone in the upcoming movie "I Play Rocky".

To be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Peter Farrelly, the film will explore the story behind Stallone's iconic movie "Rocky".

Farrelly will produce the film with Toby Emmerich, the former Warner Bros. film chief, and Christian Baha, and direct from a screenplay by Peter Gamble, reported entertainment news outlet Deadline.

Stallone, who was a struggling actor with a partially paralysed face and a speech impediment in the 1970s, wrote the script of the 1976 boxing drama and also headlined the movie that won three Oscars and spawned a film franchise.

"I Play Rocky" will chronicle how Stallone wrote the film's script that a big movie studio wanted to buy, but refused to sell it unless he gets to play the lead.

"Turning down an offer of life-changing money, he instead works for pennies to get the movie made with himself in the starring role," according to the official synopsis.

Ippolito earlier essayed the younger version of Hollywood icon Al Pacino in the Paramount+ 2022 miniseries "The Offer", which followed the development and production of Francis Ford Coppola's landmark gangster film "The Godfather" (1972).

Farrelly won an Oscar for his 2018 movie "Green Book" and is also known for directing comedies such as “There’s Something About Mary,” “Dumb and Dumber”, “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” and most recently "Ricky Stanicky". PTI RB RB RB