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26 APRIL 2016
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Filmmaker Ryan Coogler was determined to continue the Rocky legacy in CREED,
but not without Sylvester Stallone's blessing. He got it, and a whole lot more...
C reed is both a spiritual
sequel to the Rocky
franchise and a spin-off.
It’s also the first film in the series
that wasn’t written by Sylvester
Stallone, nor does it feature his
iconic boxer in the lead role.
Instead, writer-director Ryan
Coogler focuses on the son of the
late Apollo Creed, Adonis Johnson,
with an underdog story that remains
true to the winning formula.
Coogler was still in the pre-
production stages on his debut
feature, Fruitvale Station, when he
first approached Sylvester Stallone’s
agent to pitch the idea for a new
Rocky movie.
The rookie filmmaker was
promptly informed that Stallone
wouldn’t be interested, having
achieved closure for the franchise
with Rocky Balboa in 2006. But
in July of 2012, Coogler had the
opportunity to discuss his vision
with Stallone himself, whom he
describes as being apprehensive
at first.
“I hadn’t made a feature film yet,
so he was probably thinking, ‘who
is this kid coming in talking about
making a Rocky movie’ – something
that’s so precious to him? I told
him; honestly, I wouldn’t blame
him if he thought I was crazy. I
knew when I was pitching it to him
that it was a wild idea. But Sly’s
a smart dude; he’s an emotional
dude. He’s a thinker, you know what
I’m saying? He was thinking about
every different way this could work,
and every different way it could fail.”
The fact that this would be
an atypical Rocky movie, with
Adonis Johnson as the main
character and Rocky Balboa in a
mentoring role similar to Burgess
Meredith’s Mickey in the original,
was what resonated with Stallone,
whose blessing and input proved
invaluable.
“He had so many thoughts and
ideas. He knows Rocky Balboa
better than anybody,” Coogler says.
“He also knows more than anybody
about boxing – about the sport itself
and about how to make a movie
about it. I’d be writing scenes and
ask him, ‘What would Rocky do
here?’ He’d think about it for a
second and he’d tell me. If I
had ideas, he’d be the first
person I’d call. If he had
an idea, I’d be the first person he’d
call. It was a great collaboration.
“Creatively, we were walking
on razor blades with this movie,”
he adds. “How do we capture the
essence of Rocky but give people
something new, something they
haven’t seen before? How do we
show this character, who is part
of American culture, in a different
light?”
Coogler is the first to admit that
continuing the Rocky legacy comes
with great responsibility.
“It’s interesting because the
first movie I did, I was dealing with
a real person’s life. It was almost
the complete inverse of this. With
Oscar Grant [the tragic central
character of Fruitvale Station],
people knew who he was in the
Bay Area, though not necessarily
in other places. But he was a
real person. I had to take his life
and portray it as honestly and as
accurately as I could. There’s a lot
of weight there. With Rocky, he’s a
fictional character, but everybody in
the world knows him. And you don’t
want to be the guy who messes
it up.
“I think it’s in safe hands. I’ve
been a Rocky fan since as long as
I can remember. I know those
movies like the back of my
hand. I hope we captured
that spirit.”
How do we capture
the essence of Rocky,
but give people
something new?
THE ROCKY ROAD
A GOOD
DAY TO
DIE HARD
Jack McClane
(Jai Courtney)
proves he’s a chip off the old block
when he teams up with dad John
(Bruce Willis) to foil a terrorist plot
in Russia. Yippee-kiy-ay!
TRON:
LEGACY
Sam Flynn
(Garret
Hedlund)
enters the software program
developed by his old man (Jeff
Bridges) to battle virtual villains and
ride light cycles.
THE FLY II
Martin Brundle
(Eric Stoltz)
attempts
to reverse
his mutation before he turns into
an insect like father Seth (Jeff
Goldblum) – and fails.
INDIANA JONES AND
THE KINGDOM OF THE
CRYSTAL SKULL
Mutt Williams
(Shia LaBeouf)
is revealed to
be the son of
the legendary
archaeologist
adventurer (Harrison Ford), albeit
with none of the charm or jungle
smarts of his dad.
BIG MOMMAS:
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON
Trent (Brandon T. Jackson) dons
the fat suit to join stepdad Malcolm
(Martin
Lawrence) on
an undercover
assignment
in an all-girls
school. Double
hilarity ensues.
LIKE FATHER,
LIKE SON
The easiest way to
keep a movie series
going is to keep it in
the family.