Stallone To Play ‘Rocky’ Again

Rumours proliferate that Sylvester Stallone is going to be playing the character of ‘Rocky Balboa’ again, in a brand new movie set inside the ‘Rocky’ universe.

The incredibly well-liked character Rocky Balboa initially appeared in the Oscar-winning 1976 film ‘Rocky’ and has been the central character in no less than six films to date.

MGM films have officially offered the brand new project, currently identified only as ‘Creed’ to director Ryan Coogler.

The planned film is invariably a spin-off as opposed to a direct sequel.

Michael B. Jordan, star of this year’s ‘Fruitville Station’ along with HBO television drama ‘The Wire’, would play the grandson of returning series character Apollo Creed. The planned plot would call for young Creed to enter the world of boxing, with Stallone’s Balboa playing the job of his mentor.

Director Ryan Coogler, who worked with Jordan in the aforementioned ‘Fruitville Station’ movie, is claimed to be enthusiastic with the concept and is eager to co-compose the screenplay.

Apollo Creed, as portrayed by Carl Weathers, was originally presented as Rocky’s rival. In the original position, Creed (who was reportedly based on a combination of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Louis) was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champ also as a confidence businessman. When challenged with the lack of appropriate opponents, Creed decided to put his trophy on the line against a local, unknown fighter.

The original film mainly centred round the elected fighter Rocky Balboa as he trained for the largest fight of his life. In the later films, Apollo Creed started to be a tutor and a close friend to Rocky.

Weathers played Creed in each ‘Rocky’ film until ‘Rocky IV’, where the character was killed during a match with Russian boxer Ivan Drago (portrayed by Dolph Lundgren).

In spite of the character’s death, he’s significantly mentioned in both follow-up movies and remains popular with fans of this series.

The final movie in the original Rocky series, ‘Rocky Balboa’ was released in 2006 to strong critical and commercial reception. In 2010, Sylvester Stallone was inducted into the Worldwide Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum for his creation and portrayal of Rocky, also like the many tributes he has paid to boxers and also the sport of boxing in his career.

SOURCES:

http://www.sylvesterstallone.com/stallone-inducted-into-boxing-hall-of-fame/

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/stallone-to-play-rocky-again-in-spin-off-creed-053257511.html