Why Sylvester Stallone Decided Not To Direct ‘Creed II’

This coming Friday, fans of the long-running Rocky film franchise will be able to feast their eyes on the Steven Caple Jr.-directed Creed II, once again starring Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed. The first Creed, which was released in theatres back in 2015, was a massive commercial and critical success, amassing $173 million worldwide and garnering an impressive 95% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics and fans thought that director Ryan Coogler did a terrific job at making the Rocky series feel new and inventive again.

Sylvester Stallone (who famously plays Rocky Balboa) has a starring role in both films, and was recently asked why he turned down the opportunity to direct Creed II. The iconic film star was quoted as saying:

I was going to direct it, but I realized youth must be served. This kid (director Steven Caple Jr.) has such great vision and energy. Making this kind of film is incredibly taxing because you’re doing (the directing) and the drama. You’re doing two things. It’s at least six months shooting, maybe a year of prep, so when it’s finished, Steven will have been on this movie for two years straight.

At the end of the day, Stallone thought that Caple Jr.’s vision for the film was overall the strongest and had the most passion for helming the project. He also states that it is definitely time consuming, and was unsure if he had the energy within himself to fully commit to the film.

Creed II will be released in theatres on November 21, 2018, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in North America, and Warner Bros. Pictures internationally.

Directed by Steven Caple Jr. with a script from Sylvester Stallone and Juel Taylor, Creed II stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad, and Dolph Lundgren.

Source: The Toronto Sun