11 Oct – The best way to maintain the integrity of a franchise is, of course, to keep it within the family. Confirmed through his Instagram, "Rocky" creator Sylvester Stallone is now officially on board to direct and produce MGM's "Creed 2". "Looking forward to directing and producing the incredibly talented Michael B. Jordan in "Creed 2" next year ... One more round!" Stallone wrote on Instagram. No stranger to directing gigs, the actor, who famously played Rocky, has had ten helming credits under his belt including "The Expendables", "Rambo" and four "Rocky" movies. He had also written every film in the "Rocky" franchise with the exception of "Creed", and will be penning the script for the new movie. Dolph Lundgren has also been revealed to return for an appearance in the sequel, with hints of his offspring probably fighting against Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan, in the ring.
Despite his excellent work with "Creed", director Ryan Coogler will only stay on as executive producer for the sequel as he is currently busy directing Marvel's "Black Panther", which is coming out in North America in February 2018, as well as developing "Wrong Answer", starring Jordan. Grossing USD173.6 million worldwide, "Creed" won Stallone a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor as well as an Oscar nomination in the same category. The spinoff also scored big at the 47th annual NAACP Image Awards, winning every category it was nominated in including Best Actor (Jordan), Best Director (Coogler), and Best Writing. With production expected to begin next year, stay tuned to see how Stallone will bring this huge boxing film to even greater heights.