This week saw the premiere of the highly anticipated Creed III, which will not only see the continuation of Adonis Creed’s legacy as he makes a name for himself but is also the directorial debut of the star, Michael B. Jordan. As the movie gears up to be unveiled, Warner Bros. has released a final trailer to build the hype for Heavyweight Championship bout between Jordan’s Creed and his brother from another past-turned-rival, Damian Anderson, played by a muscled-up Jonathan Majors.
The official synopsis reads,
“After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian—a fighter who has nothing to lose.”
Joining Jordan for the third installment is Tessa Thompson, who returns as Creed’s wife, Bianca, Wood Harris, who returns as Little Duke, Florian Munteanu makes his return as former opponent Viktor Drago, newcomer Mila Kent is the daughter of Adonis and Bianca, and Phylicia Rashad makes her third appearance in the franchise as Creed’s mother and widow of Apollo.
The screenplay comes from King Richard scribe Zach Braylin, and Keenan Coogler, brother of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Ryan Coogler — co-writer and director the first Creed film. The producers of the film include Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo, Jonathan Glickman, and Sylvester Stallone.
While Stallone has a producing credit, his absence is notable from this installment as Creed II concluded with Rocky telling Adonis, “It’s your time now.” Then, it proceeds to show Rocky reconnecting with his son and his family. Behind the scenes, Stallone has made it clear from his social media that the Winklers are not granting him the rights to his own creation and are taking the franchise into new territory much to Stallone’s chagrin as he feels the property is getting continually milked for all the wrong reasons.
Creed III opens on March 3 with a special sneak preview of selected screenings on March 1. Check your local listings.