Late last year, Tessa Thompson caused a minor stir when she casually dropped the news that Michael B. Jordan would be directing the third Creed himself. Now it’s official: Variety reports that Jordan is set to make the threequel his directorial debut, all while directing himself.
Jordan is following a tradition began by the boxing series’ parent franchise, the Rocky films, four of which were directed by Stallone himself. (Sly also wrote — and won an Oscar for writing — the first one, which was directed by John G. Avildsen. He returned for the fifth round.)
Both Thompson and Phylicia Rachad, who plays his wife and mother, are set to return, though it’s unclear if Stallone will, too. He claimed Creed II would be his farewell to the character that first made him famous, he’s made such proclamations before. (You may not remember that 1996’s Daylight was supposed to be his action swan song. That one didn’t last long.)
Time will tell if Jordan goes the full Stallone, which is to say directing the sequel to some dance movie blockbuster, as Sly did when he made Staying Alive, the non-disco follow-up to Saturday Night Fever. In the meantime, the story will be based on an outline by Ryan Coogler, who started the Creed wing of the Rocky franchise, and written by his brother Keenan (who’s also writing Space Jam: A New Legacy) and Zach Baylin (King Richard). But looks like Jordan’s got it from here.
(Via Variety)
