When film fans hear about a studio rebooting an iconic franchise with a new, younger lead and telling roughly the same story, their eyes begin to roll. It’s a situation that has been tried again and again, with most of the resulting films being pretty terrible. But somehow, Ryan Coogler was able to buck that trend with “Creed,” delivering a great film that not only honors the “Rocky” franchise but paved a new path in the process. Now, as we approach the third film in the “Creed” series, we know the name of the person that will craft the new chapter in Adonis’ life.
According to THR, writer Zach Baylin has been hired to pen the script for the upcoming “Creed 3.” Baylin takes over a job that previously saw scripts written by the aforementioned Coogler (“Creed”) and the duo of Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone (“Creed II”). The plot for the film is unknown, but it’s assumed that it will involve Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) continuing his career as a boxer, overcoming the odds, and (hopefully) emerging victorious in the end.
Baylin is a relative unknown in the film industry. His first script is for the upcoming Will Smith film, “King Richard,” which tells the story of Richard Williams, father of superstar tennis athletes Venus and Serena Williams. Baylin’s script was featured on the Black List and eventually sparked a bidding war between studios. So, even though we haven’t seen the film, odds are, the script was pretty great.
The report claims that a director has not been hired, at this time. So, it’s unclear who will take over from the first film’s Coogler and the sequel’s Steven Caple Jr., who was able to actually deliver a film that didn’t miss a beat from the great first entry.
MGM is hoping that “Creed 3” can keep the upward box office trajectory of the first two films. “Creed” ended its theatrical run with $173 million worldwide, while the sequel did even better, earning $214 million globally. And with star Michael B. Jordan continuing to become a bigger star, along with co-star Tessa Thompson, the sky’s the limit on what “Creed 3” might be able to do.
There’s no release date set for “Creed 3” at this time.