Stephan James, known for role in If Beale Street Could Talk, has been cast opposite Anthony Ippolito in I Play Rocky from Amazon MGM Studios, the biopic which charts the making of Sylvester Stallone's Oscar-winning Rocky.

While Ippolito is playing young Stallone, James portrays Carl Weathers. Peter Farrelly is set to direct I Play Rocky from a screenplay by Peter Gamble.

Farrelly will also produce I Play Rocky with Christian Baha and erstwhile Warner Bros. film chief Toby Emmerich. He is best known for titles such as Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Green Book, and Ricky Stanicky.

I Play Rocky tells the story of an actor with an unshakable belief that he was meant to write and play Rocky Balboa - the underdog who rises in ranks to create his own story. Despite seemingly impossible odds and told no many times, he bets everything to make the film that went on to become etched in the history of cinema.

Former professional football player Carl Weathers transitioned into acting and is best remembered for his portrayal of Apollo Creed, the charismatic heavyweight champion who opposed Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky in John G Avildsen’s original Rocky. He reprised the role across three sequels until the character’s death in Rocky IV (1985). Apollo’s influence, however, lives on through the Creed franchise, where Michael B. Jordan plays his son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed, in MGM’s recent trilogy.

The film's success led to eight sequels, beginning with Rocky II in 1979, followed by Rocky III in 1982, Rocky IV in 1985, Rocky V in 1990, Rocky Balboa in 2006. Three Creed spin-off films were released in 2015, 2018 and 2023 respectively. The original Rocky received ten Academy Award nominations and won three, including Best Picture.

Best known for his roles in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and the Prime Video thriller Homecoming (executive produced by Sam Esmail), James takes on the lead role in Ricky, an independent drama from writer-director Rashad Frettl. He will next appear alongside Alan Ritchson in Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi action film War Machine.