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Stephan James has been tapped to play the late, iconic Carl Weathers in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios film, I Play Rocky. The scripted drama film is a look behind the making of 1977’s Rocky, and James joins Anthony Ippolito, who is playing a young Sylvester Stallone.
The film is directed by Green Book director Peter Farrelly and will be released by Amazon MGM in theaters. Peter Gamble is the screenwriter. Stallone, of course, played the titular Rocky in the film franchise, and Weathers played Apollo Creed in four films until his character’s death in 1985’s Rocky IV. The Rocky franchise continued with the Creed trilogy, in which Michael B. Jordan starred as Adonis Creed, Apollo’s son. Stallone appeared in the first two films.
What will ‘I Play Rocky’ be about?
As Deadline, which first broke this news, reported, “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.”
Toby Emmerich and Christian Baha are producing the film, and FilmNation Entertainment is over production services and international sales.
James is probably most known for his lead role in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, as well as his Golden Globe-nominated turn in Prime Video’s Sam Esmail-executive produced series, Homecoming. Other notable roles includle the film 21 Bridges, opposite the late Chadwick Boseman, the Fox series Shots Fired, the Apple TV+ series Surface, and the biopic Race, where he played Jesse Owens. He weas also nomianted for an Emmy for the Quibi short-form series, #FreeRayshawn.
