“All I wanna do is go the distance.”- Rocky Balboa
By Jaxson Burch
Creed 3 is on pace to hit the theaters in November 23, 2022, however this 3rd installment in the franchise will be directed by none other than Adonis Creed himself.
This decision has long since been rumored if not already confirmed back in December 2020 by Tessa Thompson when talking to the Daily Mail, the co-star of Jordan in the Creed films, but finally we have official statements to support the rumors.
Just a few days ago on March 10th, 2021 MGM announced that Creed 3 will directed by Michael B. Jordan, making this his first shot at directing. Here’s what Jordan had to say about his directorial debut when speaking with Deadline:
“Directing has always been an aspiration, but the timing had to be right. Creed III is that moment — a time in my life where I’ve grown more sure of who I am, holding agency in my own story, maturing personally, growing professionally, and learning from the Greats like Ryan Coogler, most recently Denzel Washington, and other top tier directors I respect. All of which sets the table for this moment. This franchise and in particular the themes of Creed III are deeply personal to me. I look forward to sharing the next chapter of Adonis Creed’s story with the awesome responsibility of being its director and namesake.”
Micahel B. Jordan
Learning From The Past
Rocky is hands down one of the most iconic sports movies in all of film history. But how do you capture the same magic that has served as the inspiration for countless other great sports films and successfully spawn a series of six movies total?
The answer is actually quite simple, you get the man most responsible for the original movies’ success and hand him the proverbial keys to the franchise. That is exactly what the producers of the original films, Chartoff-Winkler Productions, did.
In 1979 Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa himself, wrote, directed, and starred in Rocky 2 to great success. This gave the series new ‘legs’ so to speak, as the lead star had an even greater interest in the franchise.
Stallone would continue to direct the following 3rd and 4th installments of the series with another director taking the lead on Rocky 5, until ultimately returning to direct the final film, “Rocky Balboa”.
So hearing that Jordan is going to star and direct in this new installment is great news for fans of Rocky movies and the sequels. It is a decision that could spark several more films if Jordan does well and he has given us no reason to think he wouldn’t.
What Is Next?
So now we officially know who’s directing, but we still don’t know exactly what the plot of Creed 3 is going to be. There are definitely some plot points that we can likely assume will be hit on.
For instance the relationship between Adonis and his wife Bianca. We can expect to see them go through even more trials and tribulations in their next chapter.
There is also speculation that the next challenger to Adonis could be Clubber Lang’s son, which would be interesting if we hadn’t already tread that water with the Dragos. There is even interest from boxing champion, Deontay Wilder, to play the role. We’ll see if that rumor is substantial.
End Of An Era?
As for Rocky himself, well it is not clear whether Stallone will be returning for what would be the 9th film in the series.
In the last movie, we know that Rocky left Adonis to go and reunite with his estranged family. This could possibly indicate a significantly reduced role in future films if not the final time we see the legend on screen.
Sylvester Stallone in an Instagram video from November 2018, said that after 40 years of playing Rocky Balboa and living in the world he created decades earlier, all things must pass and come to and end.
Now this could just be him thanking the fans and getting us excited for future films, but we will have to wait and see.
What do you think? Are you even more excited for Creed 3 after this news? Will Michael B. Jordan knock it out of the park?
For more up to date news on Creed 3, stay tuned to BreakingSoup.com!
