In order to move forward, you have to face your past. Creed III is the third film in the Creed franchise, with Michael B. Jordan leading the way in front of and behind the camera. Ahead of the movie’s release, a new trailer was revealed during the Super Bowl. Donnie has to battle Damian, played by Jonathan Majors, in the ring, but he’s got to be careful not to lose everything in the process.
The Creed sports drama films are a spinoff of the popular Rocky franchise, which starred Sylvester Stallone as boxing legend Rocky Balboa. Michael plays Adonis “Donnie” Creed, the son of Apollo Creed. The first Creed film was released in 2015, and the sequel Creed II came out in 2018. The Creed movies have been successful with critics and at the box office.
The highly-anticipated third film, Creed III, is coming out in early 2023. HollywoodLife has rounded up everything you need to know about the next Creed movie, including the release date, the cast, and more.
Creed III Trailers
The first trailer for Creed III was released in October 2022 and set up an epic face-off between Michael and Jonathan. Jonathan’s character, Damian, grew up with Donnie but has spent most of his life in prison. Now he wants everything Donnie has. “I’m coming for everything,” Damian tells Donnie.
Creed III also dropped a new trailer during the 2023 Super Bowl on February 12. Amidst the action, Bianca tells Donnie, “Don’t let him destroy everything you’ve built.”
Where & When To Watch
Creed III will be released in theaters on March 3, 2023. The original release date was November 23, 2022. It was announced in July 2022 that Creed III would be pushed to its March release date.
Filming took place in Atlanta, Georgia, from January to April 2022. The movie will be released in the United States by United Artists Releasing, which released recent films such as No Time To Die, House of Gucci, and Licorice Pizza. The film will be released globally by Warner Bros. Creed and Creed II are available to stream on Prime Video, though you have to pay to rent or buy the films.
Who’s In The Cast?
This is the confirmed cast for Creed III:
- Michael B. Jordan as Adonis “Donnie” Creed. Michael is also making his feature directorial debut with the film. His character is the illegitimate son of the late boxing world champion Apollo Creed, who was a rival of Rocky Balboa’s. He trains under Rocky in the first two films.
- Tessa Thompson as Bianca Taylor. Bianca is Donnie’s fiancée and an aspiring musician. She wears hearing aids due to hearing loss. In Creed II, Bianca gets a music recording contract, but then discovers she’s pregnant. She gives birth to a baby girl named Amara who is born deaf.
- Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed. Mary is Apollo’s widow who adopts Donnie in the first film. She’s initially unsupportive of his boxing career, but eventually she comes around to it.
- Wood Harris as Tony “Little Duke” Evers. Tony is Apollo and Rocky’s former trainer and an uncle-figure to Donnie. He eventually agrees to train Donnie in boxing.
- Florian Munteanu as Viktor Drago. Viktor is the son of Russian prize champion boxer Captain Ivan Drago. Viktor becomes Donnie’s rival in Creed II.
- Jonathan Majors as Damian. Damian is a new character who is Donnie’s boxing opponent in Creed III. In an interview with Variety, Jonathan revealed he “got punched in the face about 100 times” during filming. Jonathan revealed that there are emotional reasons behind Dame’s physical transformation. “There are certain reasons you build your body. Dame’s body was built from loss,” Jonathan told Men’s Health. “He had lost something, and that hole is what made him work the way he worked. When you see Dame’s body, you go, Oh, that makes sense. You don’t look like that and be happy with life.”
Selenis Leyva, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II, and Mila Davis-Kent have also been cast in Creed III. Sadly, Sylvester Stallone will not be returning as Rocky Balboa, though he’s still on the producing team. Sylvester apparently decided on his own to not star in Creed III. Sylvester played Rocky in all six Rocky films and the first two Creed films.
What’s The Storyline?
The official synopsis for Creed III reads: After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian, resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.”
In an interview with U.K.’s Metro, Sylvester said that the script for Creed III is “really interesting.” He also said, “It takes it in a different direction. I wish them well and keep punching!”
Tessa has teased that the third film will focus more on Bianca and her relationship with Donnie. “We’ve been making these films for almost eight years, and Mike and I have grown up a lot,” Tessa previously told Hollywood Reporter in an interview. “So there’s ways in which the trajectory of the characters also has an interesting sort of poetry to our own personal journeys in a lot of ways.”
Who’s The Creative Team Behind Creed 3?
Creed III will mark Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut. Creed was directed by Ryan Coogler and Creed II was directed by Steven Caple Jr. “Directing has always been an aspiration, but the timing had to be right,” Michael told Deadline in March 2021, after his directorial debut news was announced. “Creed III is that moment — a time in my life where I’ve grown more sure of who I am, holding agency in my own story, maturing personally, growing professionally. I look forward to sharing the next chapter of Adonis Creed’s story with the awesome responsibility of being its director and namesake.”
Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin wrote the screenplay for Creed III. The producing team includes Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Ryan Coogler, Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, Jonathan Glickman, and more. Kramer Morgenthau is the cinematographer and Tyler Nelson is the editor. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Chartoff-Winkler Productions, Balboa Productions, and Proximity Media are the production companies behind Creed III.