Sylvester Stallone Says ‘Creed’ Sequel Could Reunite Rocky and Apollo (EXCLUSIVE)
JANUARY 5, 2016 | 10:30AM PT
Ramin Setoodeh
Film Editor, New York
@RaminSetoodeh

After a successful comeback in “Creed,” which has grossed $103 million at the U.S. box office, Sylvester Stallone revealed in a new interview with Variety that he’s already getting ready to step back in the ring for another sequel where he’ll play Rocky Balboa.

MGM, which financed the Warner Bros. release with New Line, is onboard. “There’s no doubt that we’re making a ‘Creed 2,’” says MGM CEO Gary Barber.

It’s not clear if Ryan Coogler, who is in negotiations for Marvel’s “Black Panther,” will return as director of the next “Creed.” “I know Ryan is probably going to be gone for a couple years,” Stallone says. “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.”

Coogler and Stallone have already developed ideas for the new “Creed.” One version of the story would take place in the past, which would mean — in a surprise that would energize the franchise’s fans — bringing back Carl Weathers to play Apollo Creed, who died in 1985’s “Rocky IV.” “Ryan has some ideas of going forward and backward and actually seeing Rocky and Apollo together,” Stallone revealed. “Think of ‘The Godfather 2.’ That’s what he was thinking of, which was kind of ambitious.” Stallone said he’d recently bumped into Weathers, who looked like he was still in good shape. “I can’t believe I got in the ring with him,” he says. “Even if it was play fighting.”

Coogler is startled to hear that Stallone has already let the cat out of the bag about their plan. “Oh no!” he says with a sigh. “There are no secrets with Sly.” Jordan sounds more skeptical. “So it’s going to be a CGI-version of Sly?” he teases, adding that he’d like to be in the next film. “I’m trying to think about it. Knowing Ryan, he’ll find a clever way to make that work.”

Another option would be a linear story with Apollo’s son Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) taking on another challenger. “You’ll have him face a different opponent, which I would say is a more ferocious, big Russian,” Stallone says. “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.”

‘Creed’ Sequel Aims for November 2017 Release (EXCLUSIVE)
JANUARY 11, 2016 | 12:20PM PT
Ramin Setoodeh
Film Editor, New York
@RaminSetoodeh

MGM is eyeing a November 2017 release date for the sequel to “Creed,” Variety has learned.

That would allow the film to open exactly two years after the first chapter starring Michael B. Jordan hit theaters. The Warner Bros. release has gone on to gross more than $105 million at the domestic box office and land Sylvester Stallone a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. “That’s my goal,” MGM CEO Gary Barber told Variety on Sunday night at the Golden Globes of his release plan, adding that the date hasn’t been set in stone yet.

If the movie does come out that soon, it could mean that Ryan Coogler — who is in talks to direct Marvel’s “Black Panther” –might not be able to return as director.

In a recent cover story with Variety, Stallone alluded to the possibility that Coogler would be an executive producer of the second “Creed” due to scheduling. “I know Ryan is going to be gone for a couple years,” Stallone said. “There’s a diminishing time acceptance of a sequel.”

Stallone also revealed a potential plot line of the film, which could be set in the past and feature the return of Carl Weathers as the late Apollo Creed. “Ryan has some ideas of going forward and backward and actually seeing Rocky and Apollo together,” Stallone said. “Think of ‘The Godfather 2.’ That’s what he was thinking of, which was kind of ambitious.”

Stallone has been fully focused on the Creed sequel for MGM. He is writing the script and has hinted online that the plot might pit Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis character against the son of Drago, the Russian heavyweight (played by Dolph Lundgren) who killed Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring during 1985’s Rocky IV. The hope is to get that film into production next year.