'Creed 2' Release Date, Latest News: Sylvester Stallone to Direct and Produce
"Creed 2," the sequel to the successful 2015 "Rocky" spinoff finally gets the green light and Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone, will helm the film. Stallone will take over Ryan Coogler as the film's director with Michael B. Jordan reprising his role as the titular character.
After the first film's success both critically and commercially, it was only a matter of time before a sequel was announced. However, nobody could have foreseen Stallone himself directing the sequel, especially with how good a job Coogler did with the first film.
Stallone announced the news in an Instagram post featuring him and Jordan. "Looking forward to directing and Producing The incredibly talented Michael B Jordan in 'Creed 2' next year ... One more Round," Stallone captioned the post.
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The 71-year-old actor didn't reveal who would be writing the project or whether Coogler will be some way involved in the film. So far Coogler, as well as the film's producer MGM, have yet to issue a comment on the recent announcement by Stallone.
While most fair-weather fans know Stallone as an actor, "Creed 2" is far from being his directorial debut. He has quite a number of directorial credits including four films from the Rocky franchise the last being 2006's "Rocky Balboa."
While 10 years have passed since he last helmed a "Rocky" film, it's unlikely that Stallone has lost his touch. Sure, there's no denying the Coogler's Creed is definitely a towering achievement, but trading him out for Stallone is definitely not something worth brooding about.
The film was slated for a 2017 release, however, Coogler and Jordan's commitments to "Black Panther" pushed it to a yet unannounced date. It is possible that "Creed 2" will come out as early as next year. However, it's much safer to expect the film to hit theaters in 2019.
