The original “Rocky” franchise consisted of six films before the “Creed” trilogy took over in 2015. The IP has a rich and successful history spanning nearly half a century, so expanding the universe seems like a great idea. “Creed III” is the first of the series to not feature the character of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), and still managed to wow audiences and crush the competition at the box office.
Amazon acquired MGM last year for a whopping $8.5 billion price tag and having the ability to mine through their “Rocky” IP for new projects would be a fiscally intelligent way to make good on their investment. It’s clear from /Film’s own Bill Bria’s interview with Michael B. Jordan that the director/star is all-in on the “Creed” universe. “I think I’ve been daydreaming about this movie for a really long time and the things that I wanted to do differently and how I wanted to just elevate,” he says, “but I wanted to evolve some things, especially within the fights and the look of it.”
A new playground at Amazon could be the perfect ring for Jordan to continue flexing his directorial muscles.