Creed III has been set for a Thanksgiving 2022 release with franchise star Michael B. Jordan directing the sequel. It had previously been reported that Jordan was in talks to helm the next installment of the Rocky spinoff series, as co-star Tessa Thompson and producer Irwin Winkler have both hinted at Jordan’s directorial debut with Creed III. Now that MGM has dated the project for Thanksgiving 2022, the project is now officially a go at the studio.
Keenan Coogler and Zack Baylin are writing the script based on an outline by Ryan Coogler. Joining Jordan in the sequel as the titular boxing champion will be Thompson as his girlfriend Bianca and Phylicia Rashad as Adonis’s stepmother Mary Anne Creed. It’s unclear if Sylvester Stallone will also return as Rocky Balboa or if any other Creed or Rocky stars will be making appearances.
While Stallone’s status concerning Creed III is up in the air, the actor has announced his plans to develop another Rocky sequel with the Italian Stallion back in the central role. In 2019, Stallone revealed that his idea would see Rocky heading south of the border to mentor a new young fighter, similar to how he had helped train Adonis Creed. Stallone has also teased a Rocky prequel television series. It remains to be seen if these projects will see the light of day as planned.
Released in 2015, the first Creed was directed by Ryan Coogler using a screenplay co-written with Aaron Covington. Serving as a sequel to the Rocky series with Stallone now in a supporting role, the movie stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, son of late boxing legend Apollo Creed, following in his father’s footsteps to become a boxing superstar. In addition to drawing strong praise from fans and critics, the movie was a big hit at the box office, so it wasn’t surprising when a sequel was promptly put into production.
Steven Caple Jr. directed Creed II, which was co-written by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. This time, Adonis had to step into the ring with Viktor Drago, the son of the boxer who had killed Adonis’s father in the ring in Rocky IV. The sequel was also a big hitter at the box office which is why MGM has been keeping Creed III gestating until Jordan apparently had an opening in his ever-growing schedule. Currently, Jordan is working on the upcoming drama Journal for Jordan which is directed by Hollywood legend Denzel Washington.
In the meantime, Jordan can be seen in the upcoming action-thriller Without Remorse, based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name. A spinoff of the Jack Ryan series, the movie was originally set to be released in theaters but is now scheduled for a streaming premiere on Amazon Prime on April 30, 2021. It stars Jordan as US Navy Seal John Clark who joins forces with fellow SEAL Karen Greer (Jodie Turner-Smith) and shadowy CIA officer Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell) uncovering an international conspiracy. Creed III will be released on Thanksgiving 2022. This news comes to us from Deadline.