Creed II (2018)

Creed II is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. The sequel to Creed (2015) and the eighth installment in the Rocky franchise, the film stars Michael B. Jordan, Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, and Dolph Lundgren. In the film, under the continued tutelage of Rocky Balboa (Stallone), champion Adonis Creed (Jordan) faces off against Viktor Drago (Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Lundgren), the antagonist in Rocky IV (1985). A Creed sequel was confirmed in January 2016, but was delayed as Ryan Coogler, the director of the predecessor, and Jordan faced scheduling conflicts due to their involvement in Black Panther (2018); Coogler was originally replaced by Stallone, who completed the screenplay by July 2017, but he was replaced by Caple that December, with Coogler instead serving as an executive producer on Creed II.

The rest of the cast, including the returns of Thompson, Rashad, and Lundgren, was finalized by March 2018, and principal photography began that same month and lasted until that June, with filming primarily taking place on location in Philadelphia. Creed II premiered on November 14, 2018, at the Lincoln Center in New York City and was theatrically released on November 28 in the United States, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly those of Stallone, Jordan, and Lundgren), character development, and Caple’s direction, while noting its predictability. It was also a commercial success, grossing $214 million worldwide. The sequel, Creed III, directed by Jordan in his directorial debut, is scheduled to be released in 2022

Plot.

In 2018, three years after his loss to “Pretty” Ricky Conlan,[a] Donnie Creed has won six straight bouts, culminating in a victory over Danny “Stuntman” Wheeler to win the WBC World Heavyweight Championship. He has gotten his 1965 Ford Mustang back. Now a worldwide star, Donnie proposes to his girlfriend, Bianca Taylor, who agrees to marry him. When Bianca suggests starting a new life together in Los Angeles, Donnie is reluctant to leave Philadelphia as it would mean leaving his trainer, Rocky Balboa. Ivan Drago, the former Soviet boxer who killed Donnie’s father Apollo Creed during a bout in 1985 before losing to Rocky,[b] seeks an opportunity to regain glory. Assisted by promoter Buddy Marcelle, Ivan pits his son, Viktor Drago, against Donnie. When Rocky refuses to support Donnie’s decision to accept Viktor’s challenge, Donnie leaves for Los Angeles. Donnie and Bianca settle down in a luxurious apartment in Los Angeles close to Donnie’s adoptive mother and Apollo’s widow, Mary Anne.

As they adjust to their new life and prepare for the upcoming match, Bianca learns that she is pregnant. Donnie recruits Tony “Little Duke” Evers, son of his father’s trainer and later Rocky’s trainer, to start training him. Overwhelmed by his life’s recent developments, he rushes into the match and is badly injured. Viktor is disqualified for hitting Donnie while he is down, allowing Donnie to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. However, Viktor becomes extremely popular in Russia and wins a series of fights with top billing. His body and ego shattered, Donnie becomes increasingly disconnected from Bianca. Mary Anne reaches out to Rocky, who reconciles with Donnie and agrees to train him for a rematch against Viktor, who is suffering torturous physical tests at Ivan’s hands. Bianca gives birth to a daughter, Amara, and Rocky is named her godfather; however, Donnie and Bianca realize Amara is born deaf, inheriting it from her mother’s progressive hearing disorder.

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Development and writing.

On January 5, 2016, Sylvester Stallone and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures CEO Gary Barber confirmed to Variety that a sequel to Creed was in development. The 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.” It was revealed in April 2018 that Ventimiglia would have an appearance in the film. On January 11, 2016, Barber revealed that Ryan Coogler would not be returning due to scheduling conflicts, because he was attached to Black Panther, though he would return as executive producer. Michael B.

Jordan’s schedule ended up being delayed due to Black Panther, as he was starring in that film. In July 2017, Stallone confirmed that he had completed the script for the sequel, and also revealed that Ivan Drago would be featured in the film. In October 2017, it was announced that Stallone would direct and produce the film. However, in December 2017, it was reported that Steven Caple Jr. would instead direct the film with Tessa Thompson confirmed to reprise her role of Bianca, Creed’s love interest. In January 2018, Romanian amateur boxer Florian Munteanu was cast in the film to play Drago’s son with Dolph Lundgren set to reprise his role of Drago. In March 2018, Russell Hornsby joined the cast while Phylicia Rashad, Wood Harris, and Andre Ward were confirmed to reprise their roles from the prior film.

Filming, Theatrical.

Principal photography began March 2018. Filming occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood, and was completed on June 7, 2018. Some scenes were filmed at the Grey Towers Castle at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Creed II was released in the United States on November 28, 2018. It premiered on November 14, 2018, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. On December 21, 2018, it was announced the film would receive a January 4, 2019 release in China, the first Rocky film to ever receive a theatrical release in the country.

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Box office.

Creed II grossed $115.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $98.4 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $214.1 million, against a production budget of $50 million. In the United States and Canada, Creed II was released alongside Ralph Breaks the Internet and Robin Hood, as well as the wide expansion of Green Book, and was projected to gross $44–54 million from 3,350 theaters in its five-day opening weekend. The film made $11.6 million on its first day, including $3.7 million from Tuesday night previews (the second best pre-Thanksgiving total ever behind fellow release Ralph Breaks the Internet’s $3.8 million and marking a 64% improvement over the first film’s $1.4 million preview total).

Cast:

Michael B. JordanasAdonis “Donnie” Creed:
Sylvester StalloneasRobert “Rocky” Balboa:
Tessa ThompsonasBianca Taylor:
Phylicia RashadasMary Anne Creed:
Dolph LundgrenasCaptain Ivan Drago: Munteanu as Viktor Drago:
Wood HarrisasTony “Little Duke” Evers:
Russell Hornsby as Buddy Marcelle:
Milo VentimigliaasRocky Balboa Jr.:
Andre WardasDanny “Stuntman” Wheeler:
Brigitte NielsenasLudmilla Vobet Drago:

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