Creed (2015)

Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Coogler from a screenplay by Coogler, Aaron Covington and contributions by Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to Rocky Balboa (2006), the seventh installment and spin-off of the Rocky franchise, and stars Michael B. Jordan, Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, and Graham McTavish. In the film, amateur boxer Adonis Creed (Jordan) is trained and mentored by Rocky Balboa (Stallone), the former rival of Adonis’ father, Apollo Creed. Although Rocky Balboa was considered the end of the franchise, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Coogler in 2013 to develop a Rocky spin-off. Coogler and Covington’s original screenplay was completed by April 2014, with the involvment of Jordan and Stallone also confirmed. The remaining cast were hired by January 2015, after which, principal photography began and lasted until that April, with filming locations including Liverpool, Philadelphia, and Gainesville.

Creed premiered on November 19, 2015, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the date of the opening scene in the first film. The film was praised for Coogler’s direction, the screenplay, and acting performances. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $173 million worldwide. Among its accolades, it was selected by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2015, while Stallone won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The sequel, Creed II, was released in 2018.

Plot.

In 1998, Adonis “Donnie” Johnson, the son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed via an extramarital affair, is serving time in a Los Angeles youth detention center when Creed’s widow, Mary Anne, visits and offers to take him in. In 2015, Donnie is in Tijuana, preparing for his fight in an amateur boxing bout hosted in a bar. Upon returning from his latest fight, Donnie resigns from the Smith Boardley Financial Group to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Donnie auditions at Los Angeles’ elite Delphi Boxing Academy, managed by family friend Tony “Little Duke” Evers Jr., the son of Apollo’s trainer Tony “Duke” Evers, but is turned down. This rejection is further emphasized as Donnie is beaten in a sparring match by light heavyweight division first contender Danny “The Stuntman” Wheeler after he publicly challenges the whole gym to prove himself, betting his 1965 Ford Mustang that no one can get a clean head shot on him.

Mary Anne vehemently opposes his aspirations, remembering how her husband was killed in the ring by Ivan Drago thirty years ago. Undaunted, Donnie travels to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father’s old friend and rival, former heavyweight champion, Rocky Balboa. Donnie meets Rocky at Rocky’s Italian restaurant, Adrian’s, named in honor of his deceased wife, and asks Rocky to become his trainer. Rocky is reluctant to return to boxing, having already made a one-off comeback[b] at a very advanced age despite having suffered brain trauma[c] during his career as a fighter. However, he eventually agrees. Donnie asks him about the “secret third fight” between him and Apollo just after Apollo helped Rocky regain the heavyweight title,[d] and Rocky reveals that Apollo won.

Creed 3: Why Sylvester Stallone Isn’t Returning as Rocky Balboa

Donnie trains at the Front Street Gym, with several of Rocky’s longtime friends as cornermen. He also finds a love interest in Bianca, a deaf up-and-coming singer and songwriter. Donnie, fighting under his biological mother’s surname, Johnson, and the fight name “Hollywood”, defeats local fighter Leo “The Lion” Sporino, which upsets the opposing corner. This leads to the opposing side leaking the news that Donnie is Creed’s illegitimate son. Rocky receives a call from the handlers of world light heavyweight champion “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, who is being forced into retirement by an impending prison term. He offers to make Donnie his final challenger—provided that he legally change his surname to Creed. Donnie balks at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees.

Development and writing.

On July 24, 2013, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures had signed on with Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler to direct a spin-off of Rocky, a seventh film in the Rocky series, which Coogler would also co-write with Aaron Covington. Sylvester Stallone also worked on the screenplay for the seventh film. The film would focus on a man following in the footsteps of his late father, Apollo Creed, and getting a mentor in the now-retired Rocky Balboa. Michael B. Jordan was set for the role of Creed’s son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed, and Stallone was set to reprise his character of Rocky. Original producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff would produce, along with Stallone and Kevin King-Templeton. On April 25, 2014, while talking to THR, Coogler stated that he had sent his latest draft to the studio, and confirmed the involvement of Jordan and Stallone.

Pre-production.

On November 10, real-life boxers Tony Bellew and Andre Ward joined the film, with Bellew to play a fighter, “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, the main opponent for Creed. Shooting was set to begin in January 2015, in Las Vegas and Philadelphia. On December 16, Tessa Thompson was added to the cast as the female lead. On January 8, 2015, Phylicia Rashad reportedly joined the film to play Mary Anne Creed, Apollo’s widow. Sylvia Meals, who portrayed Mrs. Creed in Rocky II and Rocky IV had died in 2011. On January 21, Graham McTavish tweeted about his involvement in the film.

Filming.

Principal photography began on January 19, 2015 on location at Goodison Park, with the first scene shot taking place during a Barclays Premier League football match between Everton (of which Stallone and native Evertonian Bellew are fans) and West Bromwich Albion. Goodison would later host both the climactic film fight between Donnie and Conlan and also Bellew’s real-life title fight against Ilunga Makabu in May 2016, which was the first outdoor boxing match in Liverpool since 1949. Filming also took place in Philadelphia. In early February, an empty store in Philadelphia was converted into a boxing gym, where some training scenes were shot.

Sylvester Stallone Owns No Piece of the ‘Rocky’ Franchise

Box office.

Creed grossed $109.8 million in North America and $63.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $173.6 million, against a budget of $35 million. In North America, Creed opened on Wednesday, November 25, 2015, alongside The Good Dinosaur and Victor Frankenstein, as well as the expanding wide releases of Brooklyn, Spotlight and Trumbo. The film ended up grossing $42.6 million in its first five days, including $30.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office.

Sequels.

In January 2016, Sylvester Stallone and MGM CEO Gary Barber confirmed that a sequel to Creed was in development. That same month, Stallone posed the possibility of seeing Milo Ventimiglia appear in the sequel, reprising his role as Rocky’s son Robert Balboa from Rocky Balboa. Ventimiglia previously revealed during the development of Creed that he was open to returning to the franchise, stating, “I’ll tell you what, if they invited me, I’d love to be there. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be offended.” Also that month, it was reported that the sequel’s release was tentatively set for November 2017, although it was later pushed back to an unconfirmed date. Development was seemingly delayed by the announcement Coogler had cast Michael B. Jordan in his next film, Marvel’s Black Panther, thus delaying production until both men’s schedules permitted.

A confrontation between Adonis “Donnie” Creed and Ivan Drago was hinted at on Instagram. Stallone later confirmed that he had finished writing the script for the sequel, which would see Dolph Lundgren reprising his role as Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. By October 2017, Stallone stated on his social media page that he would direct the film, however, by December of the same year, Steven Caple Jr. was announced as the director of Creed II. Boxer Florian Munteanu was cast as Drago’s son. In an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jordan confirmed that Creed II was his next project. The film was released in 2018. A sequel, Creed III, directed by Jordan in his directorial debut, is scheduled to be released on November 23, 2022.

Cast:

Michael B. JordanasAdonis “Donnie” Creed (born Johnson)
Sylvester StalloneasRobert “Rocky” Balboa:
Tessa ThompsonasBianca:
Phylicia RashadasMary Anne Creed:
Tony Bellewas“Pretty” Ricky Conlan:
Graham McTavishasTommy Holiday:
Wood HarrisasTony “Little Duke” Evers:
Ritchie CosterasPete Sporino
Tone Trumpas himself
Brian Anthony Wilsonas James

Creed (2015) Biography, Plot, Production, Filming, Box office, Trailer.