Rocky was in the building Wednesday on the first day of filming for “I Play Rocky,” the movie about young Sylvester Stallone.
Not Stallone himself, but his onscreen counterpart, Anthony Ippolito.
Ippolito channeled the “Rocky” star in scenes filmed in Keansburg Wednesday.
Peter Farrelly, who won the Oscars for best picture and best original screenplay in 2019 for “Green Book,” is helming “I Play Rocky” for Amazon MGM Studios.
Farrelly and Ippolito, wearing loose bell bottom jeans with prominent front pockets, filmed at CBS Supermarket on Main Street and on surrounding streets.
In the scenes, his young Stallone is seen with a carton of eggs. As anyone who’s seen “Rocky” knows, boxer Rocky Balboa swills down four raw eggs for breakfast.
Ippolito as Stallone with a carton of eggs and a dog playing Stallone’s bullmastiff, Butkus.Bobby Bank | GC Images
Ippolito also walked with a dog, a bullmastiff playing Stallone’s dog Butkus, who famously appeared alongside Balboa in “Rocky.”
When Stallone was a struggling writer and actor, he had to sell Butkus, but later got him back. In the movie, Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire), Rocky’s love interest, gives him the dog as a gift so Butkus can run alongside him while he’s training.
READ MORE: ‘I Play Rocky’ movie about Sylvester Stallone gets full cast in N.J. — see latest call for extras
Ippolito, who previously played Al Pacino in “The Offer,” the Paramount+ series about the making of “The Godfather,” here plays Stallone as a young actor. Back then, Stallone had tried to become an extra in “The Godfather.”
“I Play Rocky,” written by Peter Gamble (“Office Uprising”), is set in the late ’60s through 1976 and follows Stallone’s commitment to starring in “Rocky,” the movie he wrote, which went on to win best picture with him in the lead role.
Sylvester Stallone with his dog Butkus in “Rocky.” MGM
The forces that be wanted to cast someone else in the role of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa, but Stallone, then 30, persisted to become the star of the movie, which also won a best director Oscar for John Avildsen.
The 1976 movie grossed $225 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of that year. “Rocky” spawned a film franchise that would run through 2006 as well as the “Creed” franchise starring Newark’s Michael B. Jordan.
Oscar nominee Matt Dillon (“Crash,” “Drugstore Cowboy”) plays Stallone’s father, Frank Stallone Sr., in “I Play Rocky.” Stallone cast his father as a timekeeper in “Rocky.”
The movie follows Stallone before and during the making of “Rocky.”Bobby Bank | GC Images
Dillon worked with Farrelly in the comedy “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), which was helmed by the Farrelly brothers — Peter Farrelly and his brother Bobby Farrelly.
Stephan James (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Homecoming”) also stars in “I Play Rocky” as Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in Stallone’s breakout film. The actor and former football player died last year at 76.
AnnaSophia Robb (“Little Fires Everywhere,” “The Carrie Diaries”) plays Sasha Czack, Stallone’s first wife.
Stallone, 79, is not involved in the making of the film.
“I was shocked to read (about) it,” he told The Playlist in September. “I have zero to do with it.”
Director Peter Farrelly and star Anthony Ippolito on the first day of filming. Bobby Bank | GC Images
“Since I lived it, I thought I might be able to participate and give them some insight‚” said Stallone, whose memoir “The Steps“ will be published in May. The actor is also the subject of the 2023 Netflix documentary ”Sly” directed by New Jersey’s Thom Zimny.
“I Play Rocky” has put out several casting calls for local New Jersey extras. They include one for scenes filming Oct. 20 to 22 in Elizabeth.
Before the Stallone movie, Farrelly filmed the Apple TV+ movie “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” in New Jersey.
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