Creed star Michael B. Jordan reportedly met with Amazon about expanding the franchise with more movies and television shows. The move comes after Creed III scored Amazon’s biggest box office opening yet over the weekend. Creed is already part of the Rocky franchise created by Sylvester Stallone.
Jordan met with Amazon on “various Creed-related projects” within the past year, sources told Deadline Thursday. Plans for expanding the franchise became “bolder” after Creed III’s big box office weekend. The MGM movie has already grossed $110.9 million worldwideย since it was released on March 3. Since Amazon now owns the storied Hollywood studio, Creed III became the biggest box office hit for the tech giant. Reps for Amazon and Jordan, who made his directing debut with the new film, did not comment on Deadline‘s report.
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The talks are at the very early stages, but sources told Deadline that an anime series linked to Creed is on the table. There are also ideas for a live-action TV series. There could also be plans for a project featuring Adonis Creed’s daughter, Amara, played by deaf actress Mila Davis-Kent in Creed III.
During the Creed III Hollywood premiere late last month, Jordan teased a possible “Creed Universe” in a Deadlineย interview. “Building the Creed universe is something that I’m really excited about,” Jordan told the outlet.
Last year, MGM reportedly began workย on a Rocky/Creed spinoff centered on Ivan Drago, Dolph Lundgren’s Russian boxer introduced in Rocky IV (1985). Drago and his son, Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) played central roles in Creed II, which was essentially Rocky VI Part 2 as Creed sought revenge for Drago killing his father Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the earlier film. Robert Lawton was hired to write Drago, but it’s unclear if that project will get made.
Creed successfully revived interest in the Rocky franchise in 2015. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the movie introduced Jordan as Adonis Creed, who teams up with Rocky Balboa (Stallone) in a story that mirrored Rocky’s own rise. Stallone earned an Oscar nomination for his performance. Creed II, directed by Steven Caple Jr., hit theaters in November 2018 and was also met with positive reviews and box office success.
The Rocky franchise itself dates back to 1976, when the story of a hard-on-his-luck Philadelphia boxer rising to challenge the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed, became a pop-culture phenomenon. The main Rocky franchise continued with six sequels, with the last, Rocky Balboa, hitting theaters in 2006. There have long been talks about exploring Rocky’s origins, even before Amazon acquired MGM, but nothing has come together yet.
