‘Rocky’ spinoff about Apollo Creed’s grandson is in the works

[J529]

http://ftw.usatoday....pollo-grandson/

Deadline reports MGM is planning a Rocky spinoff that will feature Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa advising the grandson of Apollo Creed, to be played by Michael B. Jordan, the actor best known as Wallace from The Wire and the current star of Fruitvale Station.

The plot outline for Creed, as detailed by Deadline:

Raised in an upper-crust home thanks to the ring riches earned by his grandfather, [Creed's grandson] doesn’t have to box and his family doesn’t want him to. Yet, he has the natural instinct and gifts and potential that made his grandfather the heavyweight champion until Rocky Balboa took his crown in 1979′s

Rocky II

. Creed’s grandson needs a mentor and turns to Balboa, who is out of boxing completely and not eager to return.

So basically it’s like Karate Kid, except instead of a hard-to-understand former Japanese karate champion playing the mentoring role, it’s a hard-to-understand former Italian boxer? Count me in.

(Incidentally, the headline “Michael Jordan may star in a movie called Creed” would ordinarily set off a few red flags. The greatest basketball player in history is going into acting and his first movie is about the lame band that did “With Arms Wide Open?” That’d be weird.)

Stallone would reprise his role as Rocky in the film but wouldn’t write the script for the first time in series history. MGM is hoping to get Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler to helm the project.

Though the filmmakers clearly have a plot in mind, we thought we’d share our Creed spec script just in case they’re looking for ideas.

****

Creed. Written by Christopher Chase.

The film opens with credits playing over a montage of a wealthy young man, age 22-24, excelling in sports like golf, polo and golf polo (a hybrid sport only really rich people know about). Through all the success, he doesn’t appear happy. We catch a glimpse of his polo jersey and see that his last name is Creed. Another cut, to his bedroom, shows a picture of the youngster hugging late boxing great Apollo Creed. This is Apollo Creed’s grandson.

Young Creed is frustrated. He drives his BMW past a gym and longingly looks inside. All he wants to do is box, but something is holding him back.

The credits still play, as we see young Creed go into a local watering hole, where he orders the usual: Milk with two cherries. He lives the fighting lifestyle, even if he’s not fighting. A young woman approaches and gives him a kiss. Creed is apparently dating a waitress at the restaurant. They briefly chat, until they’re rudely interrupted by a drunk patron. He criticizes Creed’s drink order and tells the woman to dump the chump for a real man.

Creed politely ends the conversation, but the drunk patron grabs at him. Calmly, Creed sidesteps the man, shakes his head, puts down $5 for the milk and begins to leave with his girlfriend. The drunk patron is undeterred. He pulls a knife out of his shoe and charges Creed, who dodges the first swing. Then, with no malice or haste, Creed punches the man in the face. He goes out cold. As the man falls out of the shot, we see Rocky Balboa, who quickly comes into focus. He was sitting in the background, watching the whole thing. Rocky approaches the young Creed, just as the final credit comes on the screen.

Rocky Balboa — (In the most Stallone voice you’ve ever heard) “Hey kid, I haven’t seen a right like that since –”

Creed — “My pop-pop. Apollo Creed was my grandfather. My name’s Gemini.”

Rocky is shaken.

Rocky – “Oh. I’m –

Rocky can’t find the words to explain. He was in Apollo’s corner during that fateful exhibition against Ivan Drago. He has so much to say — so much he hasn’t said. All the pain from that night comes rushing back. It’s been 30 years since Apollo’s death, but it feels as fresh as ever.

Gemini Creed — I know who you. You’re Rocky Balboa. And you didn’t throw the damn towel.

Gemini briskly exits.

And … SCENE.

[J529]

[TOMapleLaughs]

The movie should be 95% montages.

[nuckin_futz]

Dear Hollywood,

Enough of this recycled crap. Frack off and write an original story or you're not getting my money ever again.

Regards,

Futz

[apollo]

Finally I get a movie made about me.

[Offensive Threat]

Finally I get a movie made about me.

[Offensive Threat]

Dear Hollywood,

Enough of this recycled crap. Frack off and write an original story or you're not getting my money ever again.

Regards,

Futz

[canucks#01fan]

Reply from Hollwood:

Redoing stuff sells. Example: Transformers 2 and 3 were godawful pieces of crap but made a ton of money. When your dropping over $100 million to make a movie you gotta be sure you are gonna get your money back. Until the movie going public is no longer dominated by teenage kids sequels are the best business model. Sorry.

Hugs and kisses from Hollywood.

[hsedin33]

it's a shame what Hollywood has become

[Sugar baby watermelon]

You know something, they should make a sequel to Bruce Almighty and use Steve Carrells character from that movie, he was gut bustingly hilarious in that one scene.

[Riviera82]

Sooo, Apollo get's killed in the ring in 1985, his grandson is 22-24 years old, and somehow there is a picture in his bedroom of them hugging? I might be wrong but something there doesn't quite add up.

[ilduce39]

Gemini exits bar with his girlfriend and hails a cab, he is greeted with a gruff,

"Vere to?"

"123 Whatever street" says Creed.

"Da," responds the grizzled eastern European cab driver.

Creed raises his eyes, squinting to catch the man's face in the rear-view mirror behind a scraggly beard and long shaggy blonde-grey hair. His eyes flick to the man's license.

Ivan Drago the license reads. Gemini knew Drago was banished from the Soviet Union following his disgraceful defeat at the hands of Balboa, but he thought he was in Sibera. Not in Philadelphia. Not driving a cab.

Before Gemini can react, the other door opens and Balboa jumps in,

"Hey kid, wait up."

He is greeted by not one but two sets of icy glares.

"Woah. Tough crowd." slurs Balboa, his eyebrows arched in surprise.

.....Oscar material? I think so.

[taxi]

it's a shame what Hollywood has become

[GLASSJAW]

They are plenty of great movies being made right now both inside and outside of hollywood.

The simple fact is that hollywood gives people what they want. If people stopped making these movies profitable by not going to them, hollywood would stop making them.

[Offensive Threat]

Some of the best movies made have been independents that couldnt get big production companies to buy into their vision. Pulp Fiction is a great example. Cost under $10 million to make and was, at the time, the biggest selling independent film in history. Producers couldnt get behind Tarantinos complicated and violent screenplay and that the leading man would be a drug addicted hit man. The studios said the movie was unmakable. Not only was it made but it won Tarantino an academy award for best screenplay.

The original Rocky got picked up by a big studio but was given a budget of next to nothing because Stalone, then unknown, demanded he be the star. He was offered hundreds of thousands for the script, that he wrote, which he refused to sell it unless he was made the star. Every studio had a number of well known leading men they thought the role would be perfect for.Passed up hundreds of thousands and he was sleeping on a friends couch with no home. That took balls. It paid off as he got his way with a small budget and was nominated for 2 oscars as best actor and best screenplay and they won best movie that year. Then the big money studios got all up in it for the sequels and it went downhill fast.

Fun fact: the budget for the original Rocky was so small that the scene in which a drunken Pauly takes the turkey out of the oven and stomps on it, when they had to redo the scene they had to staple and tape the turkey back together first as they only had one.