EXCLUSIVE: Creed III producer Irwin Winkler said Saturday at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles event that Creed IV is in the works, with franchise star and Creed III director Michael B. Jordan to helm it.
“We are planning to do Creed IV right now,” Winkler said onstage during a panel for Creed III, the MGM Amazon Studios pic that bowed in March and grossed more than $275 million at the worldwide box office. “We have a really good story [and] a really good plot. We got a little delayed because of the strikes, but about a year from now we’re going into pre-production.”
Winkler also confirmed that Jordan would be returning to direct after his feature helming debut on Creed III. “He will be,” Winkler said. “He did such a great job — he was comfortable with the camera.”
Panelist and producing partner Elizabeth Raposo added in regards to the success of the third film in the franchise, “[We’re] just glad that this one worked and people want to see more.”
Also on today’s Creed III panel was writer Keenan Coogler.
The Creed franchise, which picks up after the end of the Rocky movies, stars Jordan as Adonis Creed, the son of Rocky Balboa’s greatest opponent, tracking his rise in the boxing world and the impact that has on his family and legacy.
The franchise has grossed more than $663 million globally through the first three movies.
Further digging into the creative forces behind Creed III and Jordan’s in-depth involvement with the film, Winkler today also reflected on the strength and success of the Rocky franchise, of which Creed is connected.
“Michael and the creative team had the beautiful vision from the start to create a wholly new and different experience for this movie,” Winker said. “It had to be firmly cemented in what we all [know] the Creed and Rocky movies for … it had to have great action, boxing, but we also really examined what kind of movie we were making. And a lot of that, those early days with Michael were spent crafting how we were looking at the Damian character, which is why I think everyone responded to the depth, not only on the page, but also on the screen. You spend half the movie having deep sympathy for him and understanding his vulnerability.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
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