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CREED II: If There’s Poetry In Boxing…

SOUTHPAW, written by Kurt Sutter of the successful, long-running show Sons of Anarchy, came out in July of 2015. Ryan Coogler’s CREED, co-written with Aaron Covington, released four months later of the same year. Before seeing either of them, I expected to enjoy Creed but like Southpaw better, aesthetically. I have always been a huge fan of the Rocky series, but I was more recently a fan of Sons, so there, admittedly, was bias filled in my assumption that went beyond my reaction to their inaugural trailers. I was wrong, it turned out. Southpaw, though I loved it and still do, was, well, written by a television writer and felt like it. This is not to say it was bad by any measure, but the emotional beats bordered a bit much on the grandiose. And while this is great for a show with the breathing room of a serial, as a device it was constricted by the tight conventions of cinema and in the movie registered as ..depressing.

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Boxer Florian Munteanu To Star As Ivan Drago’s Son In CREED 2

Stephen Caple Jr. is taking the reigns following Ryan Coogler’s 2015 hit film starring Michael B. Jordan in the title role spinning off the classic boxing saga and now reprising accordingly next to Stallone as his mentor. A November 21 release from Warner Bros. and MGM is in tow for the film along with all else now with Stallone piling up on teases for a fourth Expendables film as of last week. Oy…

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FIVE-A-DAY ROUND-UP XI: Creed 2, Ready Player One, The Last One, Tomb Raider, X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Lest we stray too far from Stallone, we can’t continue from yesterday without mentioning Creed 2. Ryan Coogler shepherded the 2015 spin-off near perfectly with Michael B. Jordan starring, and host to a bevy of talent as well as a spry and impressive one-take boxing match midway in the film. Stallone and attached filmmaker Stephen Caple Jr. will commence production in Spring next year with Jordan joined once more by Tessa Thompson along with the long-rumored, expected return of Rocky IV antagonist Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago, and bearing rumors in mind, an actor slated to play Drago’s son, whoever that is. 

Shooting a commercial with Dolph today… Getting ready for working with the big man in CREED 2

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Dec 14, 2017 at 4:59pm PST

With Ernest Cline’s 2011 publication of Ready Player One.. I never even read the book. All I know really is that the official trailer from earlier this year is as exquisite as one could hope with Tye Sheridan leading the dystopian future tale of a teenager who competes an immersive video game battle for a billionaire fortune and full ownership of the VR world of OASIS at the behest of its late creator. The film opens on March 30 and yes, the teaser trailer, obviously… Peep it.

Director Lee Thongkam is kind of another anomaly. Little is known about his latest independent directorial outing, The Last One, but it does have an official website up with all the trimmings…sans a trailer as there was one prior to its removal. I managed to catch a glimpse of it myself and it has all the more made me curious. The set-up? A band of survivors fight to protect something very precious in the wake of a nasty plague that has wiped the earth of all living humans with O-blood type. The cast? Kim Santiago, Luis Vallardes, Ben Bernard, and Film Combat Syndicate favorites, Felix King and Yadi Nieves. Release? Your guess is as good as mine, but do pay the official website a visit and feel free to pester all you may about this movie. As for footage, here’s a mid-production teaser from a few years ago:

Roar Uthaug still has some pretty big shoes to fill with his latest game adaptation, Tomb Raider. Alicia Vikander is the star this time around with a glimmering and gritty take on the popular IP which now has our heroine obliged to follow the mystery of her father’s death at every harrowing turn. Dominic West, Walton Goggins and Daniel Wu also star for the film’s release on March 16.

Some of the neatest superhero films have been offered to us courtesy of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men film franchise. Not all of the movies were solid, but the studio has covered enough of its bases to move forward with our ensemble of heroes as we now approach Simon Kinberg’s treatment, X-Men: Dark Phoenix with Sophie Turner in the title role for the film’s November 2 release next year. It’s early days so don’t expect any trailer footage for a while longer than required.

Stay tuned for the next five!

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Stallone To Go One More Round At The Helm For CREED Sequel

Warner Bros. Pictures

Just as he did with the second, third, fourth and sixth installments, Sylvester Stallone will direct the next installment of Creed following Ryan Coogler’s hit 2015 spin-off of the Rocky franchise. This comes as there’s also a possibility that this might even be Stallone’s last stint in the iconic role of Rocky that bore the emotive underdog boxing drama from helmer John G. Avildsen’s inaugural 1976 classic, Rocky.

Actor Michael B. Jordan will reprise the title character continuing the story of Adonis Creed, the son of the co-starring role of Apollo Creed memorably played in Stallone’s initial three starring/directing credits of the franchise. Coogler’s film, following his 2012 pairing with star Jordan on the set of bio-pictoral drama, Fruitvale Station, earned more than $173 million dollars globally and earned a slew of wins and nominations with Stallone winning Best Supporting Actor at multiple film events.

Looking forward to directing and Producing The incredibly talented Michael B Jordan in CREED 2 next year … One more Round ! #creed2 #mgm #fighting #workout #exercise #boxing

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Oct 9, 2017 at 5:59pm PDT

In July, Stallone also confirmed the completion of his script in addition to the return of Ivan Drago, the heavy-hitting antagonist from Rocky IV played with imposing brood and gusto by actor Dolph Lundgren. Creed 2 starts shooting next year.

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CREED 2 Could Arrive As Early As 2017

Over the weekend, Sylvester Stallone won a Golden Globe award for his supporting role as an aged Rocky Balboa in his latest page-turning signature boxing drama, Creed, starring Michael B. Jordan. This, coupled with an onslaught of upworthy reviews and a box-office total of $105 million dollars, is all very reassuring of prospective talks for a sequel, and accordingly, MGM CEO Gary Barber is making it so.

Barber confirmed to Variety in a new report on Monday that while an official date is not set in stone, a follow-up could arrive as soon as 2017 with Jordan returning as the son of Rocky cinematic mainstay, Apollo Creed who starred in the first four films of the boxing saga. The talk is also that in this case, the plan for a plot may well include having actor Carl Weathers portray him in some capacity according to ideas presented by Creed helmer Ryan Coogler who directed the film following his turn at Jordan’s performance in Fruitvale Station which became the talk of many an award show in the last several years.

The article also mentions that Coogler, at best, may executive produce the sequel considering he may have other plans, which could include helming Marvel’s Black Panther with Chadwick Boseman. At any rate, the tentative 2017 sequel currently leaves the director’s chair empty as it’s all very early to tell where the chips will fall and when.

Stallone could also reprise his supporting role in the forthcoming sequel as well, among other plans he may have plenty of time for since terminally distancing himself from all things Rambo last week. The actor is also expected to return to the fray for a fourth installment of the Expendables franchise following a China co-production deal last October.

Stay tuned for more info.

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