Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Covington. It is the seventh installment in the Rocky franchise, and serves as a spin-off/sequel to Rocky Balboa (2006). It stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester 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 originally considered the end of the franchise, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) 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, Georgia.
Creed became the last in the career of Robert Chartoff, one of the main producers of the franchise, who died two months after the end of filming, and this film was dedicated to him.
Creed had its premiere on November 19, 2015, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles and was released in the United States on November 25, by Warner Bros. Pictures, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the date of the opening scene in the first film. It grossed $174.1 million worldwide and received widespread acclaim from critics who praised Coogler's direction, the screenplay, and acting performances. 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 film was followed by Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023). The film is the first film in the franchise to have been produced by Stallone and the first he has not written.
Plot
In 1998, Adonis "Donnie" Johnsonthe son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed via an extramarital affairis serving time in a Los Angeles youth detention center when Apollo's widow, Mary Anne Creed, visits and offers to take him in.
In the present time, Adonis is in Tijuana, Mexico, preparing for his match in an amateur boxing bout hosted in a bar. Upon returning from his latest fight, Adonis resigns from the Smith Boardley Financial Group to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Adonis 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 Adonis is beaten in a sparring match by heavyweight champion and #2-pound-for-pound 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, Adonis moves to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father's old rival-turned-friend, former heavyweight champion, Rocky Balboa.
Adonis meets Rocky at a restaurant known as Adrian's, named in honor of his deceased wife, and asks Rocky to become his trainer. Rocky is reluctant to return to boxing due to having bad prior experiences as a trainer, but eventually agrees. Adonis 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. Adonis trains at the Front Street Gym, with several of Rocky's longtime friends as cornermen. He also finds a love interest in Bianca, an aspiring singer and songwriter in the early stages of progressive hearing loss.
Adonis, using 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 Adonis is Apollo'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 Adonis his final challenger—provided that he fights using his father's surname, Creed. Adonis is hesitant at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees with a little convincing from Bianca.
While helping Adonis train, Rocky suddenly collapses and is admitted to the hospital. Through further testing, he is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is unwilling to undergo chemotherapy, citing its inability to save Adrian when she had ovarian cancer. The fact that his best friend and brother-in-law Paulie Pennino has now died along with all of his other friends as well as his estrangement from his son consign him to accept his eventual death. Adonis later finds out and urges him to seek treatment, but leaves in frustration after Rocky refuses and tells him he never truly believed they were a family. This causes him to lash out and get in a fight with an attendee at Bianca's concert after he compares him to his father, and is sent in jail. After being bailed out, Adonis refuses to train for his fight with Conlan if Rocky doesn't accept treatment, which Rocky finally agrees to.
Adonis fights Conlan at Goodison Park in Conlan's hometown of Liverpool, and many parallels emerge between the ensuing bout and Apollo and Rocky's first fight forty years earlier. First, before entering the ring, Adonis receives a present from Mary Annenew American flag trunks similar to the ones Apollo and later Rocky wore. Additionally, to the surprise of nearly everyone, Adonis gives Conlan all he can handle. Conlan knocks Adonis down, but Adonis recovers to knock Conlan down for the first time in his career. Adonis goes the distance, but Conlan wins on a split decision. However, Adonis has won the respect of Conlan and the crowd through his efforts. As Max Kellerman puts it while calling the fight for HBO, "Ricky Conlan wins the fight, Adonis Creed wins the night." Conlan tells Adonis that he is the future of the light heavyweight division.
The film ends with Adonis and a frail but improving Rocky climbing the 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 Adonis's trainer and mentor. He owns and operates an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia named after his deceased wife Adrian. Tessa Thompson as Bianca Taylor: A singer-songwriter with a hearing impairment who becomes Adonis's love interest. Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed: Apollo's widow and Adonis's stepmother, who takes in Adonis as a child following the death of Adonis'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 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 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 as Apollo Creed is used throughout the film.
Production
Development and writing
On July 24, 2013, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had signed on with Fruitvale Station (2013) director Ryan Coogler to direct a spin-off of Rocky (1976), 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 The Hollywood Reporter, 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 and the time when a film such as 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 (1979) and Rocky IV (1985) 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 Adonis 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. The café was transformed into the "Adrian's Restaurant", and crew were again spotted filming there on February 16. Stallone and Jordan were also spotted on the set of the film on February 18. From February 24–27 and then on March 3, filming took place at Sun Center Studios in Aston Township.
Music Soundtrack
The musical score for Creed was written by Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, who is only the third composer in the history of the Rocky series, following Bill Conti (Rocky, II, III, V, and Balboa) and Vince DiCola (Rocky IV). Creed also features a soundtrack that consists mostly of music new to the series, including hip hop tracks by artists such as Future, Meek Mill, and White Dave. Both a score and a soundtrack album were released on November 20, 2015, by WaterTower Music and Atlantic Records, respectively. One tribute to Conti's original soundtrack is included – the track "You're a Creed" uses both "Gonna Fly Now" and "Going the Distance".
Release Theatrical