MGM’s Rocky spinoff pic, Creed, has finally cast its leading lady in the shape of Tessa Thompson. The actress is currently on a winning streak this year, after accruing critical acclaim for her turn in heavyweight drama Selma and bagging a Gotham award for her part in Dear White People. Now that she’s boarded the boxing pic, she’ll be entering the ring with another noted rising star.
Reuniting with his Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler for the movie is leading man Michael B. Jordan. He is locked in to take on the part of Apollo Creed’s grandson alongside the titular star of the original series, Sylvester Stallone. With Jordan’s character in training with the older, more wizened Rocky, it’s thought that project newcomer Thompson will play his love interest. But who knows, maybe they’ll meet in a co-ed punch-up?
Coogler and his co-writer Aaron Covington enlisted the help of Stallone to hone their pitch for the movie before they took it to the studio. The story the trio crafted is expected to follow Creed’s grandson. As he grows tired of his ‘silver spoon’ existence, Creed Jr. vows to become a famous boxing legend like his grandfather. He then seeks out Rocky to train him, and the rest is history. Other characters expected to satellite the main story include two real-life boxing talents, Andre Ward and Tony Bellew, with Bellew already revealed to be in the villainous role of “Pretty” Ricky Porter.
Along with the franchise’s returning star, original Rocky producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff are set to produce alongside Stallone and Kevin King. There’s no word on when production will officially commence, or indeed who Thompson is slated to play, but we’ll keep you posted with any new updates on Creed as we get them.