Creed (film)

''Creed'' is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Coogler from a screenplay by Coogler, Aaron Covington and contributions by Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky Balboa'' (2006), the seventh installment and spin-off of the ''Rocky'' franchise, and stars Michael B. Jordan, Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, and Graham McTavish. In the film, amateur boxer Adonis Creed (Jordan) is trained and mentored by Rocky Balboa (Stallone), the former rival turned friend of Adonis' father, Apollo Creed.

Although ''Rocky Balboa'' was considered the end of the franchise, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Coogler in 2013 to develop a ''Rocky'' spin-off. Coogler and Covington's original screenplay was completed by April 2014, with the involvement of Jordan and Stallone also confirmed. The remaining cast were hired by January 2015, after which, principal photography began and lasted until that April, with filming locations including Liverpool, Philadelphia, and Gainesville.

''Creed'' premiered on November 19, 2015, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 25, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the date of the opening scene in the first film.
The film was praised for Coogler's direction, the screenplay, and acting performances. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $173 million worldwide. Among its accolades, it was selected by National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2015, while Stallone won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The sequel, ''Creed II'', was released in 2018. A third film, ''Creed III'', is set to be released on March 3, 2023.

Plot

In 1998, Adonis "Donnie" Johnson -- the son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed via an extramarital affair -- is serving time in a Los Angeles youth detention center when Creed's widow, Mary Anne, visits and offers to take him in.
In 2015, Donnie is in Tijuana, preparing for his fight in an amateur boxing bout hosted in a bar. Upon returning from his latest fight, Donnie resigns from the Smith Boardley Financial Group to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Donnie auditions at Los Angeles' elite Delphi Boxing Academy, managed by family friend Tony "Little Duke" Evers Jr., the son of Apollo's trainer Tony "Duke" Evers, but is turned down. This rejection is further emphasized as Donnie is beaten in a sparring match by light heavyweight division #2 contender Danny "The Stuntman" Wheeler after he publicly challenges the whole gym to prove himself, betting his 1967 Ford Mustang that no one can get a clean head shot on him. Mary Anne vehemently opposes his aspirations, remembering how her husband was killed in the ring by Ivan Drago thirty years ago. Undaunted, Donnie travels to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father's old friend and rival, former heavyweight champion, Rocky Balboa.

Donnie meets Rocky at Rocky's Italian restaurant, Adrian's, named in honor of his deceased wife, and asks Rocky to become his trainer. Rocky is reluctant to return to boxing, having already made a one-off comeback at a very advanced age despite having suffered brain trauma during his career as a fighter. However, he eventually agrees. Donnie asks him about the "secret third fight" between him and Apollo just after Apollo helped Rocky regain the heavyweight title, and Rocky reveals that Apollo won. Donnie trains at the Front Street Gym, with several of Rocky's longtime friends as cornermen. He also finds a love interest in Bianca, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter in the early stages of progressive hearing loss.

Donnie, fighting under his biological mother's surname, Johnson, and the fight name "Hollywood", defeats local fighter Leo "The Lion" Sporino, which upsets the opposing corner. This leads to the opposing side leaking the news that Donnie is Creed's illegitimate son. Rocky receives a call from the handlers of world light heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, who is being forced into retirement by an impending prison term. He offers to make Donnie his final challenger—provided that he legally change his surname to Creed. Donnie balks at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees.

While helping Donnie train, Rocky is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is unwilling to undergo chemotherapy, remembering that it was not enough to save Adrian when she had ovarian cancer. His diagnosis and the fact that his best friend and brother-in-law Paulie Pennino—Adrian's brother—has now died on top of Adrian, Apollo, and his old trainer, Mickey Goldmill, further force him to confront his own mortality. Seeing Rocky shaken, Donnie urges him to seek treatment, which he does.

Donnie fights Conlan at Goodison Park in Conlan's hometown of Liverpool, and many parallels emerge between the bout that ensues, and Apollo and Rocky's first fight forty years earlier. First, before entering the ring, Donnie receives a present from Mary Anne — new American flag trunks similar to the ones Apollo and later Rocky wore. Additionally, to the surprise of nearly everyone, Donnie gives Conlan all he can handle. Conlan knocks Donnie down, but Donnie recovers to knock Conlan down for the first time in his career. Donnie goes the distance, but Conlan wins on a split decision, and Donnie has won the respect of Conlan and the crowd. As Max Kellerman puts it while calling the fight for HBO, "Ricky Conlan won the fight, but Adonis Creed won the night." Conlan tells Donnie that he is the future of the light heavyweight division.

The film ends with Donnie and a frail but improving Rocky climbing the 72 steps outside the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Cast

* Michael B. Jordan as Adonis "Donnie" Creed (born Johnson): An underdog but talented light heavyweight boxer and the son of world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.
** Alex Henderson as young Adonis "Donnie" Johnson
* Sylvester Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa: A two-time world heavyweight champion and Apollo's rival-turned-friend who becomes Donnie's trainer and mentor. He owns and operates an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia named after his deceased wife Adrian (played by Talia Shire in previous films).
* Tessa Thompson as Bianca: A singer-songwriter with a hearing impairment who becomes Donnie's love interest.
* Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed: Apollo's widow and Donnie's stepmother, who takes in Donnie as a child following the death of Donnie's biological mother.
* Tony Bellew as "Pretty" Ricky Conlan: A highly formidable yet arrogant British boxer and the world light heavyweight champion.
* Graham McTavish as Tommy Holiday: Conlan's trainer.
* Wood Harris as Tony "Little Duke" Evers: One of Danny Wheeler's assistant trainers, the son of Apollo's, then Rocky's, trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers
* Ritchie Coster as Pete Sporino
* Tone Trump as himself
* Brian Anthony Wilson as James

A number of figures (real-life fighters and trainers) from boxing play in the film:
* Andre Ward as Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler: A light heavyweight boxer.
* Gabriel Rosado as Leo "The Lion" Sporino: A light heavyweight boxer.
* Jacob "Stitch" Duran as himself: An esteemed cutman in boxing, he previously portrayed the cutman of Mason "The Line" Dixon in ''Rocky Balboa''.
Liev Schreiber voices an ''HBO 24/7'' announcer, while Michael Buffer cameos as himself serving as ring announcer. Other sports media personalities who appear include ESPN's Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon, Hannah Storm, and Max Kellerman, and HBO Sports' boxing announcer Jim Lampley.

Archive footage of Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed is used throughout the film.

Production

Development and writing

On July 24, 2013, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had signed on with ''Fruitvale Station'' director Ryan Coogler to direct a spin-off of ''Rocky'', a seventh film in the ''Rocky'' series, which Coogler would also co-write with Aaron Covington. Sylvester Stallone also worked on the screenplay for the seventh film. The film would focus on a man following in the footsteps of his late father, Apollo Creed, and getting a mentor in the now-retired Rocky Balboa. Michael B. Jordan was set for the role of Creed's son, Adonis "Donnie" Creed, and Stallone was set to reprise his character of Rocky. Original producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff would produce, along with Stallone and Kevin King-Templeton. On April 25, 2014, while talking to '' THR'', Coogler stated that he had sent his latest draft to the studio, and confirmed the involvement of Jordan and Stallone.
In an interview with Ellen, Sylvester Stallone reasoned why he refused to write Creed. He referred to a generational gap between the time when he wrote Rocky (1976) and the time when Creed would be making its appearance on the silver screen.

Pre-production

On November 10, real-life boxers Tony Bellew and Andre Ward joined the film, with Bellew to play a fighter, "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, the main opponent for Creed. Shooting was set to begin in January 2015, in Las Vegas and Philadelphia. On December 16, Tessa Thompson was added to the cast as the female lead. On January 8, 2015, Phylicia Rashad reportedly joined the film to play Mary Anne Creed, Apollo's widow. Sylvia Meals, who portrayed Mrs. Creed in ''Rocky II'' and ''Rocky IV'' had died in 2011. On January 21, Graham McTavish tweeted about his involvement in the film.

Filming

Principal photography began on January 19, 2015 on location at Goodison Park, with the first scene shot taking place during a Barclays Premier League football match between Everton (of which Stallone and native Evertonian Bellew are fans) and West Bromwich Albion. Goodison would later host both the climactic film fight between Donnie and Conlan and also Bellew's real-life title fight against Ilunga Makabu in May 2016, which was the first outdoor boxing match in Liverpool since 1949.

Filming also took place in Philadelphia. In early February, an empty store in Philadelphia was converted into a boxing gym, where some training scenes were shot.

On February 13, the crew was spotted filming in the Victor Cafe in South Philadelphia

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