The theatrical debut of Michael B. Jordan’s Creed III has been pushed back by just over three months.
Creed III, the third film in the Creed series and the ninth film in the overall Rocky franchise, was previously slated to bow later this year on Nov. 23. According to Variety, however, the film will now premiere in theaters on March 3, 2023. In other words, Creed III, an MGM release, is set to go head-to-head with Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Creed III marks the feature directorial debut of Jordan, who also reprises his role as boxer Adonis “Donnie” Creed from 2015’s Creed and 2018’s Creed II. The threequel’s screenplay is written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin from a story the two co-wrote with Ryan Coogler, director of the original Creed.
Jordan is joined in Creed III by fellow series mainstays Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Wood Harris, who reprise their roles as Bianca Taylor, Mary Anne Creed and Tony “Little Duke” Evers, respectively. Additionally, Florian Munteanu reprises his role as Viktor Drago from Creed II. Franchise newcomer Jonathan Majors will play a character named Anderson Dame, Donnie’s new rival. Meanwhile, Selenis Leyva, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II and Mila Davis-Kent have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Donnie Creed Returns for Round 3
Noticeably absent from Creed III is Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. The Creed threequel will be the first film in the Rocky franchise to not feature Stallone in the role. The actor played the iconic character in all six original Rocky films, plus the first two Creed films. Despite his on-screen absence from Creed III, however, Stallone remains attached to the film as a producer.
Directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler, the original Creed marked Jordan’s first outing as Donnie Creed, the illegitimate son of Rocky’s friend and boxing rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). In that film, Donnie was mentored by Rocky himself. Jordan reprised his role in director Steven Caple Jr.’s Creed II, with Donnie taking on Munteanu’s Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Ivan Drago, of course, killed Apollo Creed in the ring in 1985’s Rocky IV. Plot details for Creed III have not yet been revealed.
Directed by and starring Michael B. Jordan, Creed III punches its way into theaters on Friday, March 3, 2023.
Source: Variety
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