An update to last week’s news that a sequel to "Creed" was certainty… Variety is reporting today that MGM is "eyeing" a November 2017 release for the sequel. As I noted in last week’s post confirming the sequel, it wasn’t certain whether Ryan Coogler would direct, given that he’s "in talks" to direct "Black Panther." If MGM’s November 2017 date holds for the "Creed" sequel, and Coogler does eventually sign up to direct "Black Panther," it’ll very likely mean that he won’t be directing the "Creed" sequel.
"Black Panther" is currently set for a February 2018 release, and there’s just no way Coogler could direct both films given how close their release dates are, and also considering that directing "Black Panther" will probably consume about 2 years of the chosen director’s life, from pre-production to eventual release.
“I know Ryan is probably going to be gone for a couple years,” said Sylvester Stallone when discussing the "Creed" sequel, adding, “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.”
Clearly he wants to get it done as soon as possible, and so does MGM, given a November 2017 release slot under consideration.
So if it turns out that Coogler doesn’t direct "Creed 2," who will? Stay tuned…
As for what the story will be, Variety says: "One version of the story would take place in the past… bringing back Carl Weathers to play Apollo Creed, who died in 1985’s “Rocky IV.”
Stallone said that he "recently bumped into" Carl Weathers and he was impressed that he was still in "good shape."
Another potential story for "Creed 2" per Variety: "… a linear story with Apollo’s son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) taking on another challenger."
That would probably make more sense.
Stallone explained: “You’ll have him face a different opponent, which I would say is a more ferocious, big Russian… 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.”
"The girl" he’s referring to is Tessa Thompson’s Bianca, who Shannon Houston wrote about wonderfully (here) as a potential star of any "Creed" sequel.
“Ryan has some ideas of going forward and backward and actually seeing Rocky and Apollo together,” Stallone said, adding, “Think of ‘The Godfather 2.’ That’s what he was thinking of, which was kind of ambitious.”
Visit Variety for more.
