Years ago, the idea of another Rocky film seemed completely unnecessary and ridiculous.  But what we got was “Rocky Balboa”, a touching and fitting end to the saga of the Italian Stallion.  Rocky’s run may be over, but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t a story to tell.  And now, the story is that of Apollo Creed’s grandson in the upcoming film “Creed”.

A reported passion project by director Ryan Coogler (director of “Fruitvale Station”), “Creed” will center on the grandson of former champion Apollo Creed following in Apollo’s footsteps, though at the dismay of his family.  To help his transition from rich kid to championship contender, Creed looks to Rocky Balboa to train him.  Balboa, now fully removed from the boxing community, isn’t too keen to step back into that world.

Coogler cited “Creed” as a dream project when he signed on with the WME agency, which put Coogler together with Sylvester Stallone to discuss the possibilities of the project.  Stallone, who is currently working on a Broadway musical adaptation of “Rocky”, loved the idea of the spin-off so much that he agreed to reprise the role of Balboa in the film.  “Creed” would also reunite Coogler with his “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan in the title role.

The deal is currently being finalized by WME, with original “Rocky” producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff set to produce and to be written by Coogler and Aaron Covington, making this the first “Rocky” film to not be written by Stallone himself.  Coogler has said he wants “Creed” to be his directorial follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Fruitvale Station”, so anticipation is that the film will quickly go into pre-production once the deal is finalized.

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