The next installment in theRockyfranchise,Creed 3, has been delayed to March 2023, meaning fans will have to wait a bit longer to see Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut, now without Sylvester Stallone by his side.
Work onCreed 3began in early 2022, shortly before Amazon had acquiredMGM, the studio that’s always worked onRockyfilms, with filming said to have been completed in back April. Besides Jordan playing the titular character, the film also sees Tessa Thompson return as his on-screen partner and Florian Munteanu reprising his role as rival Viktor Drago, but Adonis' new contender will actually beKang the Conqueror himself, as Jonathan Majors also joined the cast in prime heavyweight champion form.
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However, Majors will first hit movie theaters as Kang rather than boxer Anderson Dame due toCreed 3being pushed back to August 02, 2025, from its original release date of November 23 of this year. Although no specific reason was given to justify the delay, the movie will seeCreednot having to compete with major blockbusters likeBlack Panther: Wakanda ForeverandAvatar 2, or to a lesser degreePinocchioandMatilda. All of those films are scheduled to release just a couple of weeks apart, thus previously causing a slight overlap withCreed 3’s previous premiere date.
While many eyes will veer towards Jordan’s handling of the film as a first-time director, screenplay duties have also fallen onto new hands. Zach Baylin and Keenan Coogler will take over from the former’s brother and Sylvester Stallone. The case is much different in the production department, as Stallone will continue to get producing credits along with Irvin Wrinkler, the very man the Italian stallion has lambasted on social media recently due to the actor feeling cheated out ofhis intellectual property rights asRocky’s creator.
It’s possible thatCreed 3’s delay is related to post-production work, as the new March 2023 release will still see it come out just two weeks afterAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, exactly the same time frame beforeAquaman and the Lost Kingdom. ForRockyfans, this will be thefirst movie set in theRockyuniverse without Stallone, though the actor himself believes his story has been completed.
On moreRockynews, a new spinoffbased on Rocky’s Soviet rival Ivan Dragois also now in the works, meaning there’s plenty of boxing drama coming to Amazon Prime Video in the near future.
Creed 3is scheduled to release in theaters on May 13, 2025.
