‘Creed’, the seventh film in the super successful ‘Rocky’ franchise, is released in Irish cinemas this week (Jan 15th), and reboots the franchise in a whole new direction with the focus now on the son of Apollo Creed – Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) – with Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) reluctantly serving as the young fighter’s mentor.
To get you up to speed on this new direction for the ‘Rocky’ franchise, we have gathered together 10 facts about ‘Creed’ that you really ought to know.
1. Director
Director Ryan Coogler is perhaps best known for his 2013 film ‘Fruitvale Station’, the true story of a young man shot by police while trying to get home from New Year’s celebrations. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard – Avenir Prize, as well as numerous other awards around the world. According to Screen Rant, Coogler’s next project has already been confirmed; ‘Black Panther’ a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due for release in 2018.
2. Star
You may already recognise the actor who plays Adonis Johnson; Michael B. Jordan. As well as ‘Creed’, Jordan has recently starred in ‘Fantastic Four’, ‘That Awkward Moment’ and Coogler’s previous film ‘Fruitvale Station’.
3. Writer
The screenplay for ‘Creed’ was written by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington, making it the first of the ‘Rocky’ films not to be written by Sylvester Stallone.
4. Nostalgia
Sylvester Stallone asked that Michael B. Jordan wear the famous American flag trunks that Apollo Creed wore in ‘Rocky’ and Rocky wore in ‘Rocky III’ and ‘Rocky IV’ to hold on to this tradition from the franchise. We are sure the nostalgia that awakens in audiences on seeing this iconic costume was part of the plan too.
5. Keeping the Peace
While filming this movie, Sylvester Stallone had to break up a fight between two other boxers… Presumably in one of the gym scenes, but who can be sure!
6. Runs in the family
Apollo Creed, father of the title character of this movie, was named after the Greek god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more. It makes sense then that his son, Adonis, is also named after a character in Greek mythology; an annually-renewed, ever-youthful vegetation god, a life-death-rebirth deity whose nature is tied to the calendar. Also, Adonis is recognised as being the prime example of handsome youth.
7. Running Time
At 133 minutes, ‘Creed’ is the longest of any film in the ‘Rocky’ franchise.
8. Page to screen
The first draft of the script was 204 pages long, but was cut down. The ending of the film changed several times, and two different conclusions of the story were shot.
9. Callback
While training, Adonis wears a shirt with the message “Why do I wanna fight? Because I can’t sing and dance…” printed on it. This is a line from the first ‘Rocky’ film; Rocky says it to Adrian on their ice skating date.
10. When Can I see ‘Creed’?
‘Creed’ is released in Irish cinemas on January 15th 2015. Watch the trailer below.