Michael B. Jordan to Make Directorial Debut With Creed III, Tessa Thompson Confirms

A few months back, we reported here at The Root that there were talks of Michael B. Jordan potentially directing the third installment of the Creed movie franchise. But now it looks like those talks were actually true!

According to Entertainment Tonight, Creed co-star Tessa Thompson confirmed that People’s Sexiest Man Alive will indeed be directing Creed III during an interview about her recent Amazon Prime feature, Sylvie’s Love.

“He is directing the next Creed,” she told MTV News’ Josh Horowitz. Referencing Jordan’s newfound title and whether or not it will play a role in their dynamic while filming, Thompson joked: “It’s going to be ammo, I think, for me when he is engaging with me as a director. I’m just going to tell him to dial down the sexiness.”

While Jordan may have big shoes to fill with previous directors Ryan Coogler and Steven Caple Jr. helming Creed I and Creed II respectively, he’ll be following in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone, who also went from star to director in Rocky II, III, IV and 2006’s Rocky Balboa. The Creed franchise follows Jordan as Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed from the original Rocky franchise. Creed II left us with a victorious “Donnie,” who must now grapple with the growing pains of becoming a new father as well as how to continue on the legacy of his late father while building up a legacy of his own. And while Sylvester Stallone has previously made it clear that he won’t be returning for another film, I still wouldn’t be surprised if he makes some sort of appearance in the third installation. After all, this is Creed’s son we’re talking about here.

Zach Baylin has been tapped to pen the script for Creed III per the Hollywood Reporter. Baylin is also writing the script for the upcoming King Richard, a biopic of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams father, Richard Williams.

As of now there is no word yet on a potential release date for Creed III.