2015’s spin-off smash Creed has done a tremendous job of reminding us that the Rocky franchise will outlive us all, and now Sylvester Stallone is offering up details on how the series might raise a fan favorite from the dead for Creed 2.
No, it’s not the robot. We all want it to be the robot or Tony Gazzo, but it’s not going to happen.
Sly dished a bit about the potential places a second Creed movie might go during an interview with Variety. The plans for Creed 2 seem to be a bit up in the air with director Ryan Coogler busy with other projects, including a possible spot helming Marvel’s Black Panther picture. It’s a dynamic that had Stallone pondering if there’s a way to get a sequel out while anticipation is still high.
“I know Ryan is probably going to be gone for a couple years,” Stallone says. “So there will be a quandary on: Do we work with another director and have Ryan produce, or do we wait? There’s a diminishing time acceptance of a sequel. Now they are cranking them out in a year.”
Seeing as the original has earned over $100 million and has Oscar buzz around it, it’s no surprise that demand is definitely there for more from the Michael B. Jordan driven tale. MGM CEO Gary Barber has even gone on record saying there’s “no doubt” another Creed movie is going to happen. Stallone shared with Variety that there’s one time-hopping possibility for a sequel that could have the dear departed Apollo Creed getting up off the mat.
“Ryan has some ideas of going forward and backward and actually seeing Rocky and Apollo together,” Stallone revealed. “Think of ‘The Godfather 2.’ That’s what he was thinking of, which was kind of ambitious.” Stallone said he’d recently bumped into Weathers, who looked like he was still in good shape. “I can’t believe I got in the ring with him,” he says. “Even if it was play fighting.”
Judging by Coogler’s reaction to Stallone’s reveal, the possible return of Apollo may have been something that was supposed to be kept under wraps.
“Oh no!” he says with a sigh. “There are no secrets with Sly.”
Another idea for Creed 2 offers a nod to the past while operating in the current Adonis-based universe.
“You’ll have him face a different opponent, which I would say is a more ferocious, big Russian,” Stallone says. “You can start to meld my experiences and then you start to bring different cultures into it. And you can see what’s happening with the Russians today in America. The complication will come with the girl’s ambition, because she’s not Adrian. She has places to go, things to see, the clock is running on her hearing.”
As long as we get some awesome training montages out of the deal, we’re good to travel anywhere the next Creed movie wants to go.
(via Variety)
