"Creed" director Ryan Coogler has revealed his inspiration on directing the sports drama film starring Michael B. Jordan and how he convinced Sylvester Stallone to be part of it.
In his interview with Vulture, Coogler said that his father had been a "Rocky" fan; however, the latter had gotten really sick and had been becoming weaker due to a neuromuscular condition. Coogler said that he had been stressed mentally in the process, thinking that his world had crashed.
Thinking if the situation had happened to Rocky Balboa, his father's hero, Coogler had come up with the idea of Adonis Johnson and the idea of the film.
Coogler also described how Balboa meaningful was to his father. The filmmaker explained that his father had seen himself as an underdog, along with the latter's mother. Coogler said that his grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer when his father had been 8 or 9. And she had fought the disease for 15 years.
According to Coogler, his father saw the woman as an underdog fighting like Rocky. He added that both would have killed the time by watching television, at a time when "Rocky II" had been aired all the time. For Coogler, that moment had made the film so special to his father.
With regard to convincing Stallone to reprise his role as Balboa, Coogler said that it had taken a lot of time and people. The filmmaker added that the legacy of Stallone's franchise had been so close to him and the "Rocky" films had always been inspired by personal situations for him.
For Coogler, handing over the franchise and resurrecting the character had been the biggest things Stallone had to get past. In fact, the "Rocky Balboa" star has ranked sixth to win the Best Supporting Actor by the 21 Oscar experts, Gold Derby reported.
Along with him are "Spotlight's" Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, "Bridge of Spies'" Mark Rylance, "Beast of No Nation's" Idris Elva, and "The Revenant's" Tom Hardy.
Meanwhile, "Creed" centers on previous World Heavyweight Champion Balboa as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed. The film stars Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Maria Breyman, Jordan as Johnson, and Stallone as Balboa, among others.
Coogler helm the upcoming "Creed" while Aaron Covington and Stallone wrote the film script. Robert Chartoff, William Chartoff, Nicolas Stern, Kevin King Templeton, David Winkler, and Irwin Winkler co-produced the film.
"Creed" is also set to have a sequel or two. While the said sequel is still in its early phase of development, exact details on the plot, characters, cast, and release date are yet to be revealed.
Coogler's "Creed" is now showing in theaters.