Creed – a Rocky spin-off – to shoot in January

In the age of sequelitis and spin-offs, even the largest big-screen brands are getting the same treatment. First Star Wars announced a series of spin-off movies, likely focusing on one single character, and last summer it was also revealed that Rocky will be getting its own tangental adventure in celluloid: Creed. Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed was one of the best things about the Rocky movies, a yin to Sylvester Stallone’s yang – MGM were clearly just counting the days until they could get his own movie out.

Attached to star as Creed will be Michael B. Jordan, who showed his acting skills in Fruitvale Station, and will likely prove his box office bluster with next year’s Fantastic Four reboot; except we’ve learned that Creed actually concerns Apollo Creed’s grandson, Adonis, who Jordan will play, who has a natural talent for the sport of boxing. Stepping in to train him will be none other than Rocky himself, with Stallone returning to the iconic role for the first time since 2006’s Rocky Balboa – which makes this, in chronological terms at least, a Rocky sequel, and if not, then definitely one in spirit. We’ve also learnt that Creed will begin shooting in January next year; depending on its eventual release, could this be an awards contender like the first Rocky?