Movies › Creed II
Creed II 2018
Creed II is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. It serves as the sequel to Creed (2015), which followed Rocky IV (1985), and stands as the eighth entry in the Rocky franchise. The movie features Michael B. Jordan, Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Phylicia Rashad, and Dolph Lundgren. In the story, Adonis Creed (Jordan) continues training under Rocky Balboa (Stallone), eventually confronting Viktor Drago (Munteanu), the son of Ivan Drago (Lundgren), who killed Adonis’ father Apollo Creed thirty-three years earlier.
Plans for a Creed sequel were confirmed in January 2016, but were postponed due to scheduling conflicts between director Ryan Coogler and Jordan, who were both committed to Black Panther (2018). Initially, Coogler was replaced by Stallone, who finished the screenplay by July 2017. However, Stallone was later replaced by Caple in December, with Coogler returning as executive producer. The remainder of the cast, including Thompson, Rashad, and Lundgren, was confirmed by March 2018. Principal filming took place from March to June, mostly in Philadelphia.
Creed II had its premiere on November 14, 2018 at Lincoln Center in New York City and opened in the U.S. through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 21. Critics responded positively, especially praising the acting—particularly Stallone, Jordan, and Lundgren—as well as character growth and Caple’s direction, though some noted the film's predictability. The movie proved commercially successful, earning $214.2 million globally. This film marked Stallone's final role as Rocky Balboa, a decision he announced on Instagram, effectively ending his involvement in the franchise. It was also his only contribution to a Rocky film as co-writer, after having written all previous entries alone, and his last screenplay in the series.
Creed III, directed by Jordan in his first time behind the camera, was released March 3, 2023.
Cast
- Michael B. JordanAdonis "Donnie" Creed: An underdog but talented heavyweight boxer
- Tessa ThompsonBianca Taylor: Adonis' girlfriend
- Phylicia RashadMary Anne Creed: Apollo's widow and Adonis' stepmother
- Dolph LundgrenCaptain Ivan Drago: Russia's former prize champion boxer
- Florian MunteanuViktor Drago: Ivan's son who is a burly and ruthless boxer
- Wood HarrisTony "Little Duke" Evers: One of Wheeler's trainers
- Milo VentimigliaRocky Balboa Jr.: Rocky's estranged son
Crew
- Director
- Steven Caple Jr.
- Screenplay
- Juel Taylor, Sylvester Stallone
- Story
- Sascha Penn, Cheo Hodari Coker
- Producer
- Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Kevin King-Templeton, Sylvester Stallone
- Cinematography
- Kramer Morgenthau
- Editing
- Dana E. Glauberman, Saira Haider, Paul Harb
- Music
- Ludwig Göransson
Details
- Production
- Chartoff Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, New Line Cinema, Winkler Films
- Distributor
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- Budget
- $50 million
- Box office
- $214.2 million
