Michael B. Jordan is returning to the director’s seat for Creed IV after making his directorial debut with Creed III.
The Creed franchise picks up after the end of the Rocky movies which follows the story of Adonis Johnson Creed (played by Jordan), son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed (featured in the Rocky films).
Creed III, released in March, delivered a knockout performance at the Box Office, setting a new record for the boxing-themed movie franchise with $58 million on the debut weekend.
The first three movies of the franchise have grossed more than $663 million worldwide.
Jordan first appeared as Adonis in 2015’s Creed, followed by the 2018 sequel. In the first two films, Sylvester Stallone reprised his role as Rocky Balboa, becoming a mentor to Adonis, the son of his former rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Creed 3 is the first installment in the long-running series without Stallone.
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Producer Irwin Winkler was spotted in videos posted by Deadline Hollywood on X (formerly Twitter) announcing the upcoming film.
Winkler confirmed Michael B. Jordan was returning to the director’s seat while speaking on Saturday, November 18 about the latest addition to the franchise.
“We’re planning to do Creed 4 right now—it’s in the works—and we think we have a really good story, a really good plot because the SAG-AFTRA strike “delayed” the pre-production process, but about a year from now we’re going into pre-production.” He said he was excited to continue the franchise.
During Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles event, Winkler also discussed the resilience and triumph of the Rocky franchise, to which Creed is intricately linked.
“Michael and the creative team had a beautiful vision from the start to create a wholly new and different experience for this movie,” he said. “It had to be firmly cemented in what we all [know] the Creed and Rocky movies for… It had to have great action and boxing, but we also really examined what kind of movie we were making.”
“And a lot of that, those early days with Michael, were spent crafting how we were looking at the Damian character, which is why I think everyone responded to the depth, not only on the page but also on the screen. You spend half the movie having deep sympathy for him and understanding his vulnerability,” Winkler noted.