Stallone to reprise Rocky role in 'Creed' spinoff film

[Truth.]

‘Fruitvale Station’ Duo Ryan Coogler And Michael B. Jordan Team With Sly Stallone On MGM ‘Rocky’ Spinoff ‘Creed’

EXCLUSIVE: MGM is setting Ryan Coogler to direct Creed, and the studio is in early talks with Coogler’s Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan to play the grandson of Apollo Creed in a continuation of the Rocky saga that Coogler is going to write with Aaron Covington. Sylvester Stallone will reprise Rocky Balboa as a retired fighter-turned-trainer. This comes in the wake of a strong summer platform opening for Fruitvale Station, the film that won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Awards at Sundance, and captured Prize Of The Future at the Cannes Film Festival, where Coogler and Jordan were the toast of the Croisette. Coogler intends for this to be his directorial followup to Fruitvale Station so the intention is to make it happen quickly.


Now, I know the knee jerk reaction is to say it’s hard to get excited about what amounts to the seventh film in the Rocky series. This feels different to me, mostly because of how it came together. Much the same way that Coogler burned with the desire to tell the tragic story of Oscar Grant in his feature debut and begged Jordan to play the role in the $900,000 budget film, this whole idea also came from Coogler. When he signed with WME, Coogler identified Creed as a dream project. While Coogler already had the relationship with Jordan, the agency put him together with Stallone. Stallone, who is right now heavily involved in a stage musical transfer of his original Oscar-winning 1976 film Rocky, loved the idea and felt it was strong enough for him to bring back his signature screen character. Stallone and Coogler then approached MGM’s Gary Barber and Jon Glickman, and they flipped for it. The film will be produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who produced the original, along with Stallone and Kevin King.

The intention is for Jordan to play the grandson of Apollo Creed (played in the early movies by Carl Weathers). Raised in an upper crust home thanks to the ring riches earned by his grandfather, the young man doesn’t have to box and his family doesn’t want him to. Yet, he has the natural instinct and gifts and potential that made his grandfather the heavyweight champion until Rocky Balboa took his crown in 1979′s Rocky II. Creed’s grandson needs a mentor and turns to Balboa, who is out of boxing completely and not eager to return.

Balboa was Creed’s father’s greatest opponent and later his best friend until that fateful moment when Balboa heeded Creed’s wishes and didn’t stop the fight against the Soviet fighter Drago (played by Dolph Lungdren in 1985′s Rocky IV) before the giant delivered what proved to be a fatal beating.

What is intriguing is how Coogler intends to plug back into the mythology of the first three Rocky films, which were the best ones, and then move the story forward. Jordan seems perfect for the role, given his charisma and intensity, and the fact he’s a natural athlete and was a most convincing quarterback in the final seasons of Friday Night Lights. Coogler played college football on a scholarship as a wide receiver, so he has a background in jock culture. The deal is being finalized by WME, which reps Coogler, Jordan and Stallone. Jordan is managed by The Schiff Company and lawyered by Gregory Slewett.

[drizzle]

Wallace?

[Philaflava]

best day ever

[Tommy Bunz]

[Spartan]

Cysed.

[Employee]

This is awesome; that kid singlehandedly saves Fruitvale Station.

[ALASKA]

He also saved football in East Dillon.

[Tommy Bunz]

He

dies like a bitch

in Chronicle though

[Panama]

Wallace?

[Kalel]

He also saved football in East Dillon.

TEXAS FOREVER.

[Spartan]

I had no idea the project was this close to being a real thing. Eager to check this out.

http://www.cutprintfilm.com/news-2/offi ... -released/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Official Synopsis for CREED Released

In Film News by Chris Evangelista February 25, 2015

Creed, the spin-off film from the Rocky series, is a bit of an odd duck. When the project was first announced, it sounded like a punch-line. Yet it continued picking up steam. For one thing, the film is being directed by Ryan Coogler, director of the acclaimed Fruitvale Station. It also reunites Coogler with Fruitvale Station star Michael B. Jordan. Jordan is an excellent actor who is on the rise, and will next be seen in Fantastic Four. Also at some point the original Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone, got involved with the project.

The last Rocky film, Rocky Balboa was a tad maudlin but also served as a nice send-off for the character of Rocky, rescuing him from the many sub-par sequels. Continuing the series with Rocky in a supporting role seems to make the most sense, if you must continue it at all.

Today we have the official synopsis for the film, which you can read below. The one take-away from this synopsis is that it sounds very similar to Rocky V, which we all know is the best of the Rocky films. And by “best” I mean it actually stinks on ice, and the one where Paulie had a friggin’ robot was a better movie. One thing is for certain: I’m just glad this isn’t about the band Creed. Remember them?! Time will tell if Creed ends up being a total knock-out. Boxing puns! Also, is it too much to ask for that Carl Weathers shows up at some point as the ghost of Apollo Creed?

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures comes award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s “Creed.” The film explores a new chapter in the “Rocky” story and stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role. The film also reunites Coogler with his “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed.

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.

Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring.

With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?

“Creed” also stars Tessa Thompson (“Selma,” “Dear White People”) as Bianca, a local singer-songwriter who becomes involved with Adonis; Phylicia Rashad (Lifetime’s “Steel Magnolias”) as Mary Anne Creed, Apollo’s widow; and English pro boxer and former three-time ABA Heavyweight Champion Anthony Bellew as boxing champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan.

Coogler directs from a screenplay he wrote with Aaron Covington, based on characters from the “Rocky” series written by Sylvester Stallone. The film is being produced by Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin King Templeton. Joining Coogler behind the scenes are director of photography Maryse Alberti (“The Wrestler”) and costume designer Emma Potts (“127 Hours”), as well as his “Fruitvale Station” team: editors Claudia Castello and Michael P. Shawver; production designer Hannah Beachler; and composer Ludwig Göransson.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures comes a Chartoff Winkler Production, “Creed.” Opening on November 25, 2015, the film’s production is being overseen by MGM. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, with select international territories as well as all television distribution being handled by MGM.

[Philaflava]

im there opening night

[admiral]

What kind of revisionist bullshit is this?

the one where Paulie had a friggin’ robot was a better movie.

I thought Rocky 4 was universally beloved

[Spartan]

Writer's horrible attempt at being funny.

It's a heads up that this movie is out this year, though, and that we need a trailer out already.

[admiral]

Oh definitely

I really liked Rocky Balboa. Even Grudge Match, which was basically a Rocky comedy, had its moments

[SYM]

Hey keen, did anything ever materialize with the background work for this?

[EMCEE DARTH MALEK]

what the game's been missing