Creed (2015)
- The original script for Creed was written over a decade before production finally began in 2015.
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- Before Michael B. Jordan was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
Creed is a 2015 American sports drama directed by Ryan Coogler, a spin-off and sequel to the Rocky franchise. Michael B. Jordan stars as Adonis "Donnie" Johnson, the illegitimate son of Rocky Balboa's late rival and friend Apollo Creed, who has grown up in foster homes and group houses before being adopted by Apollo's widow Mary Anne, played by Phylicia Rashad.
Determined to forge his own identity in boxing rather than trading on his father's legendary name, Adonis travels to Philadelphia to convince the retired, aging Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, to train him. Ryan Coogler revitalized the Rocky franchise by reimagining it through a fresh generational and racial perspective β Adonis's struggle to define himself outside his father's shadow while Rocky confronts his own mortality gave the film a thematic richness that honored the original while standing entirely on its own. The boxing sequences, particularly a climactic fight filmed in what appeared to be a single unbroken take, were the most technically impressive in the franchise's history.
Sylvester Stallone received his first Academy Award nomination in 39 years for Best Supporting Actor. Creed earned $173 million worldwide on a $35 million budget and launched Ryan Coogler toward Black Panther.
