The Official Creed Synopsis Hints at Rocky’s Mortality

Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM have just released the official synopsis for their upcoming Rocky spinoff, Creed, and it teases a few surprising details about what fans will see when the film hits the big screen this Thanksgiving:

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.

Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring.

With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?

The line about “an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring” certainly makes it sound like Rocky will be dealing with some serious health problems. Could the new film see the end of Stallone’s “Italian Stallion”?

Creed also stars Tessa Thompson (Selma, Dear White People) as Bianca, a local singersongwriter who becomes involved with Adonis; Phylicia Rashad (Lifetime’s “Steel Magnolias”) as Mary Anne Creed, Apollo’s widow; and English pro boxer and former three-time ABA Heavyweight Champion Anthony Bellew as boxing champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan. Fruitvale Station‘s Ryan Coogler directs from a screenplay he wrote with Aaron Covington, based on characters from the Rocky series written by Stallone.

Hitting the big screen November 25, Creed is being produced by Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Sylvester Stallone and Kevin King Templeton.

Creed is now in production in Philadelphia. You can check out some recent images from the set in the gallery viewer below: