''Creed III'' is a 2023 American

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

starring and directed by

Michael B. Jordan Michael Bakari Jordan ( ; born February 9, 1987) is an American actor, producer and director. He is best known for his film roles in '' Fruitvale Station'' (2013), ''Creed'' (2015), ''Black Panther'' (2018), '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'' ...

in his directorial debut, and produced by

Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 25, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoo ...

Charles Winkler Charles Winkler is an American television and film director and producer. He is the son of Academy Award-winning producer and director Irwin Winkler and actress Margo Winkler. He was married to actress Sandra Nelson from 1998 until their divorc ...

, William Chartoff, David Winkler,

Ryan Coogler Ryan Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is a recipient of ten NAACP Image Awards and four Black Reel Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe ...

, Elizabeth Raposo,

Jonathan Glickman Jonathan Glickman (born May 18, 1969) is an American film producer who served as the President of the MGM Motion Picture Group from 2011 to 2020 and has been the CEO of Miramax since April 2, 2024. Personal life and education Glickman was born in ...

and

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

. It is the sequel to ''

Creed II ''Creed II'' is a 2018 American sports drama film directed by Steven Caple Jr. from a screenplay by Juel Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Creed'' (2015), a follow-up to '' Rocky IV'' (1985), and the eighth installment in t ...

'' (2018), the third installment in the ''Creed'' film series, and the ninth overall in the ''Rocky'' franchise. The film was written by Keenan Coogler and Zach Baylin from a story they co-wrote with Ryan Coogler. The film sees the accomplished and recently retired boxer

Adonis Creed Adonis "Donnie" Creed (born Adonis Johnson) is the fictional protagonist of the ''Creed'' films— ''Creed'' (2015), ''Creed II'' (2018), and ''Creed III'' (2023) — the sequel series to the ''Rocky'' films. The character is played by Michael ...

(portrayed by Jordan) come face-to-face with his childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian Anderson (

Jonathan Majors Jonathan Michael Majors (born September 7, 1989)Majors in is an American actor. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Majors rose to prominence for starring in the drama films ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' (2019) and '' Da 5 Blood ...

Tessa Thompson Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the List of Theatre Communications Group member theatres, Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica ...

Wood Harris Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film '' Above the Rim'' (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in t ...

, Mila Davis-Kent,

Florian Munteanu Florian Munteanu (; born 13 October 1990) is a German actor. He is known for playing the boxer Viktor Drago in ''Creed II'' (2018) and ''Creed III'' (2023), and Razor Fist in ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021). Early life Munt ...

, and

Phylicia Rashad Phylicia Rashad ( ) ( Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress. She was most recently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University before her three-year contract ended in May 2024. Known for her roles on stage and scree ...

also star. A third ''Creed'' film was officially announced in September 2019, alongside Jordan's return; he was also confirmed to be making his directorial debut in October 2020. Majors and the remainder of the cast joined between November 2021 and September 2022; ''Creed III'' is the first film in the series not to feature Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name the Italian Stallion) is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the ''Rocky'' franchise. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in eight of ...

, though he is credited as a producer.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began in January 2022 and lasted until that April, with filming locations including

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. ''Creed III'' premiered in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

on February 9, 2023, which coincided with Jordan’s 36th birthday, and was released in the United States on March 3 as the first film distributed by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro ...

after its acquisition by

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and the dissolution of

United Artists Releasing United Artists Releasing, LLC (UAR) was an American film distribution joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Annapurna Pictures and the successor to United Artists (UA) that operated from October 31, 2017 to March 4, 2023. Founded by form ...

. The film received positive reviews from critics for Jordan's direction, the story, performances, and fighting sequences. Like its predecessors, the film was a box office success, grossing over $276 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing ''Creed'' film and the second highest grossing ''Rocky'' film.

Plot

In 2002,

, Adonis "Donnie" Creed sneaks out with his best friend and brother type figure,

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

champion "Diamond" Dame Anderson, to watch him compete in an underground boxing match. After Dame's victory, he tells Donnie about his aspirations to turn professional and become a world champion. During a detour at a liquor store, Donnie impulsively attacks a man named Leon, and Dame is arrested while Donnie escapes, running away from the scene. In the present day, six years after beating Viktor Drago and three years after beating Ricky Conlan to avenge his only career defeat, Donnie has retired from boxing to focus on his wife Bianca and their 6-year-old daughter Amara, whose hearing impairment has since led the family to become fluent in

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

. Donnie runs the Delphi Boxing Academy with Tony "Little Duke" Evers Jr. and is promoting his protégé, world champion Felix "El Guerrero" Chavez, in a match against Viktor Drago. While the two watch the declining health of Donnie's adoptive mother Mary-Anne, Amara aspires to become a boxer like Donnie, which gets her into trouble at school when she punches a bully. Released from prison, Dame reconnects with Donnie and shares his desire to resume his boxing career. Donnie reluctantly invites Dame to the gym, and hires him as Chavez's sparring partner, but his presence draws scorn from Chavez and Duke as Dame is overly aggressive and hostile. Dame later visits Donnie's home, where he meets his family and recounts their time together at a group home, a story that Bianca had never heard. Privately, Dame asks for a title shot against Chavez, but Donnie declines. After Drago is attacked by an unknown assailant at a party for Bianca's record label, which casts doubt on his ability to participate in his upcoming fight, Donnie nominates Dame as Drago's replacement. Despite it being his first professional bout, Dame manages to win the unified heavyweight championship by implementing dirty tactics such as a knee and elbow, as well as targeting Chavez's shoulder, which Dame had intentionally damaged during one of their sparring sessions. Following the match, an uneasy Donnie visits Mary-Anne, who shows him letters Dame had written to Donnie while in prison that she kept from him due to her believing that he was a bad influence. One letter contains a picture showing Dame with a fellow inmate that Donnie recognizes as Drago's assailant. Realizing that Dame planned the attack, Donnie confronts him, and Dame admits that he manipulated him into getting the title shot. Donnie is unable to open up to Bianca about his guilt over Dame, who revels in his newfound fame and publicly slanders Donnie as a fraud who turned his back on him. Mary-Anne suffers another stroke and dies. After her funeral, Donnie confesses to Bianca about the night of Dame's arrest, revealing Leon to be the abusive caregiver in their group home before he was adopted. After Donnie attacked Leon at the liquor store, the ensuing brawl with Leon's friends caused Dame to brandish a gun. After Dame was arrested, Donnie never contacted Dame out of guilt. Encouraged by Bianca, Donnie decides to come out of retirement and challenges Dame for the championship, which he accepts. After training with Duke and a recovered Drago, Donnie faces Dame in the "Battle of Los Angeles" at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

. The fight is a grueling, evenly-matched affair. In the final round, Donnie has visions of his abusive foster home and Dame's life in jail, which leads to Donnie being knocked down. He manages to just beat the count, then goes on to knock Dame out and regain the championship. Afterward, Donnie reconciles with Dame, with both men admitting it was not the other's fault. Donnie joins Bianca and Amara in the ring in the empty stadium, where he pretends to box with Amara. As Donnie and his family leave the ring, he looks out on to the empty Dodger Stadium.

Cast

as Adonis "Donnie" Creed (né Johnson) ** Thaddeus J. Mixon as the 15-year-old Johnson *

as Bianca Taylor-Creed *

as Damian "Diamond Dame" Anderson ** Spence Moore II as the 18-year-old Anderson *

as Tony "Little Duke" Evers * Mila Davis-Kent as Amara Creed *

as Viktor Drago *

as Mary Anne Creed *

José Benavidez Jr. José Luis Benavidez Jr. (born May 15, 1992) is an American professional boxer who challenged for the WBO welterweight title in 2018. He is the brother of two-time WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez. He also made his acting debut as ...

as Felix Chavez *

Selenis Leyva Selenis Leyva (born May 26, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Off-Broadway productions and had supporting roles on television, before her breakthrough role as List of Orange Is the New Black characters#Gloria Mendoza, ...

as Laura Chavez * Anthony Bellew as "Pretty" Ricky Conlan Additionally,

Barry Pepper Barry Robert Pepper (born April 4, 1970) is a Canadian-American actor. His best-known film roles include Private Daniel Jackson in ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), Roger Maris in '' ...

provides the narration for the televised "Anderson v Chavez" promo. Sports television personality Stephen A. Smith, news anchor Jessica Holmes, boxer

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990), commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from light middlewe ...

and his wife Fernanda Gómez, and singer

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish ( ; born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. She is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen pop group PopLyfe in 2011. Kehlani's debut mixtape, '' ...

make cameo appearances as themselves. Also appearing as themselves are:

boxing referees Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing punches at each other for a pred ...

Kenny Bayless Kenny Bayless (born May 4, 1950) is an American retired referee (boxing), boxing referee from Nevada. He is best known for having refereed many of the sport's most well-known fights. Bayless's catchphrase, when giving his instructions to the fig ...

, Russell Mora and Tony Weeks;

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts ...

Jimmy Lennon Jr. James Frederick "Jimmy" Lennon Jr. (born August 5, 1958) is an American boxing ring announcer who was employed primarily by Showtime (TV network), Showtime and Fox Sports (United States), Fox Sports as ring announcer for their ''Showtime Champion ...

and

David Diamante David Diamante (born November 8, 1971) is an American ring announcer.Mary Pilon, A popular ring announcer with DAZN, Diamante has been coined "''The Voice of Boxing''" by BBC Sport. He is widely known for his trademarked catchphrase "The fight st ...

; and broadcasters

Todd Grisham Todd Grisham (born January 9, 1976) is an American sports reporter for DAZN and Glory kickboxing. Prior to his departure from ESPN at the end of 2016, his duties for the network included being the in-studio host for '' Friday Night Fights'' as w ...

Jessica McCaskill Jessica McCaskill (born September 8, 1984) is an American former professional boxer. She is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the undisputed, IBO and ''Ring'' female welterweight titles; the WBC female super-lightweigh ...

Al Bernstein Al Bernstein (born September 15, 1950) is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker. Journalism career In the 1970s, Bernstein was a newspaperman, working at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago. He eventually b ...

Mauro Ranallo Mauro Domenico Ranallo (born December 21, 1969) is a Canadian sports announcer, commentator and mental health advocate. He is currently signed as a play-by-play announcer with MMA organization Bellator, and also performs play-by-play duties for ...

, and Christopher Mannix. Michael B. Jordan's father, Michael A. Jordan, also cameos as a

referee. Boxer

Terence Crawford Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from lightweight to light middleweight, including the undisputed cha ...

also appears as a sparring partner.

Production

Development

In December 2018, in response to the suggestion that

Deontay Wilder Deontay Leshun Wilder (; born October 22, 1985) is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title from 2015 to 2020. By winning the title, Wilder became the first American world heavyweight champion si ...

could play the son of

Clubber Lang James "Clubber" Lang is a fictional character created by Sylvester Stallone for the film ''Rocky III'', which was released in 1982. He was portrayed by American actor and real-life wrestler Mr. T and serves as the main antagonist of the film. ...

in a potential sequel to ''

'' (2018), Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan expressed interest. In September 2019, Jordan confirmed that ''Creed III'' was officially in active development.

Pre-production

In February 2020, Zach Baylin was announced as screenwriter, with Jordan confirmed to reprise his role as

. In October 2020, it was reported that Jordan would reprise his role of Adonis Creed and make his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

in ''Creed III''. Producers had expressed interest in having Jordan serve as director, with

stating that he had personally offered the position to the actor. In April 2021, Stallone announced he was not cast in the film. By June 2021, Jonathan Majors entered talks to portray Adonis's new adversary. In November 2021, it was officially confirmed that Majors was cast. In April 2022, it was announced that

and

would reprise their roles from previous ''Creed'' films, and

, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Spence Moore II, and Mila Davis-Kent joined the cast. In September 2022, Mexican boxer

was cast in as a cameo. Stallone expressed distaste for the darker direction the filmmakers wanted to take the film in, stating: "That's a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would've taken it. It's a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler's and Michael B. Jordan's. I wish them well, but I'm much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don't want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness." Jordan meanwhile wanted to explore Adonis' early life & backstory. Stallone refused to see the released film due to the involvement of producer

, whom Stallone has called a "parasite" for "picking clean the bones" of characters he (Stallone) created. Winkler purchased the rights for the Rocky character from Stallone in 1976.

Filming

began in late January 2022, and Jordan was seen on the set in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Kramer Morgenthau Kramer Morgenthau, A.S.C. (born June 6, 1966), is an American cinematographer known for his expertise as a visual storyteller in both television and film. The six-time Emmy nominee was director of photography for television projects such as HBO' ...

returned as the cinematographer for the film, after having done so for ''Creed II''. The film was partially shot on

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

-certified Sony

CineAlta CineAlta cameras are a series of professional digital movie cameras produced by Sony that replicate many of the same features of 35 mm movie film, 35mm film Movie camera, motion picture cameras. Concept CineAlta is a brand name used by Sony ...

Venice cameras and the

Panavision Panavision Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...

anamorphic format Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...

, making this the first film in the series, and the first sports film in history, to do so. Filming later ended on April 6, 2022. Jordan said the fight choreography was heavy influenced by anime series such as ''

Megalobox is a Japanese anime television series. The series is produced and animated by TMS Entertainment and its subsidiary 3xCube and directed by Yō Moriyama, his first directorial work. ''Megalobox'' was created in commemoration of the 50th anni ...

'', ''

Naruto Shippuden ''Naruto'' is a Japanese anime television series based on Masashi Kishimoto's 1999–2014 manga series ''Naruto''. It follows Naruto Uzumaki, a young orphan ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the l ...

'', ''

Hajime No Ippo is a Japanese boxing-themed manga series written and illustrated by George Morikawa. It has been serialized by Kodansha in the manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' since October 1989, with its chapters collected in 143 volum ...

'', and ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

''.

Post-production

In May 2022, the final writing credits were officiated.

(director and co-writer of ''

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) which summarizes its core tenets. Many Christian denominations use three creeds ...

'', executive producer on ''Creed II'', and producer on ''Creed III'') received story credit with Keenan Coogler and Baylin, and the latter two received screenplay credit. Tyler Nelson and Jessica Baclesse served as co-editors.

Music

Soundtrack

In October 2022, it was announced that composer Joseph Shirley would score ''Creed III''. Shirley was previously part of

Ludwig Göransson Ludwig Emil Tomas Göransson (; ; born 1 September 1984) is a Swedish musician, composer, conductor, songwriter, and record producer. For his work in music, film and television, he has won several accolades including two Academy Awards, a Britis ...

's team scoring the first two films in the series, as a technical score engineer and score programmer. On November 20, 2022, Jordan announced that

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

and

Dreamville Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Cozz, Omen ...

executive produced the soundtrack.

Release

Theatrical

''Creed III'' premiered in

on February 9, 2023, and was released in the United States on March 3. It was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on November 23, 2022, by

(MGM) in the United States, and

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...

internationally (excluding the Nordics), but on July 28, it was delayed to March 3. It is the first MGM film to not be distributed by

after Amazon shut down the distributor's operations and folded it into MGM.

Home media

''Creed III'' was released on premium video-on-demand services on April 1, 2023. The film was released for

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

, and

4K UHD Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by ...

on May 23, 2023.

Reception

Box office

''Creed III'' grossed $156.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $119.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $276.1 million. In the United States and Canada, ''Creed III'' was released alongside '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village'' and '' Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre'', was projected to gross $38–40 million from 4,007 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $22 million on its first day, including $5.45 million from Wednesday and Thursday night previews (the best total of the trilogy), increasing estimates to $50 million. The weekend totaled $58.7 million, topping the box office. The film made $27.3 million in its sophomore weekend, finishing second behind newcomer ''

Scream VI ''Scream VI'' is a 2023 American slasher film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It is a sequel to '' Scream'' (2022) and the sixth installment in the ''Scream'' film series. ...

'', and then $15.3 million in its third weekend finishing in third place behind ''Scream VI'' and newcomer ''

Shazam! Fury of the Gods ''Shazam! Fury of the Gods'' is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC character Shazam. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the sequel to '' Shazam!'' (201 ...

''.

Critical response

Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

gave it a 92% positive score, with 80% saying they would definitely recommend it. Lovia Gyarkye of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' praised the fighting sequences and said: "If we take its claims at face value, ''Creed III'' is a rousing success, a slick, cool and inspiring narrative about boxing's prince trying to defend his title and honor." ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

gave the film three out of four stars, writing "What makes ''Creed III'' a consistently engrossing watch is the gritty and violent back story, and the present-day tension between two former best friends whose lives were forever changed by a single confrontation that went sideways and who now have been reunited after nearly 20 years, with one man on top of the world and the other about two degrees from reaching the boiling point as he simmers with rage and resentment."

Accolades

At the

2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards were the 31st edition of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the sixth to jointly honor film and television. It was originally scheduled to be held on May 7, 2023, at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and be ho ...

, ''Creed III'' was nominated for Best Performance in a Movie (Jordan). It received a nomination for Best Viral Campaign for a Feature Film at the 2023

Golden Trailer Awards The Golden Trailer Awards are an American annual award show for film trailers founded in 1999. The awards also honor the best work in all areas of film and video game marketing, including posters, television advertisements and other media, in 10 ...

. The film and Jordan was respectively nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor at the 6th Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards. At the

Black Reel Awards of 2024 The 24th Annual Black Reel Awards ceremony, presented by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) and honoring the best 2023 in film, films of 2023, took place on January 16, 2024; the combined film and television ...

the film received four nominations: Outstanding Director and Outstanding Lead Performance to Jordan, Outstanding Supporting Performance to Majors and Outstanding Soundtrack.

Future

On February 2, 2023, Jordan confirmed that a fourth ''Creed'' film was happening "for sure" and that spin-offs were also being considered. When asked about the future of the ''Creed'' movie franchise in an interview with ''ScreenRant Plus'', Jordan said: In November 2023, producer Irwin Winkler confirmed that a fourth film was in active development, with Jordan returning as director. Jordan has also expressed interest in Stallone returning for a fourth film, believing there was always space for Rocky to return. In March 2025, Jordan told ''

'', "I would like to work with onathanMajors again. I would love to make ''Creed IV'' together — among other projects."

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, United States, Film, Sports 2023 films 2023 drama films 2023 directorial debut films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s sports drama films 4DX films African-American films African-American drama films American sequel films American Sign Language films American sports drama films Films about bullying Films about child abuse Films about mental health Films directed by Michael B. Jordan Films produced by Irwin Winkler Films produced by Ryan Coogler Films set in 2002 Films set in 2017 Films set in 2022 Films set in Los Angeles Films set in South Africa Films shot in Atlanta Films with screenplays by Zach Baylin 2020s hood films IMAX films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Rocky (franchise) films Warner Bros. films English-language crime films English-language sports drama films

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

Pre-production

Filming

Post-production

Music

Soundtrack

Release

Theatrical

Home media

Reception

Box office

Critical response

Accolades

Future

See also

References

External links