Rocky Balboa is so synonymous with Philadelphia that the “City of Brotherly Love” erected a statue to memorialize the steps that the fictional boxer bounds up as part of his iconic training routine.
Well, actually the statue, with its portrait of the pugilist flinging his hands triumphantly in the air, was created for a scene in “Rocky III” and donated to Philadelphia by Sylvester Stallone, but at this point it has become such a symbol of the city’s working class spirit that its origins are almost superfluous.
That close bond between city and subject played out at the box office this weekend with the debut of “Creed,” which finds Balboa coaching the illegitimate son (Michael B. Jordan) of his former nemesis Apollo Creed. The picture, which took in an outstanding $42.6 million over its first five days in theaters, is over-indexing in Philadelphia by a massive 72%.
“Philadelphia is on fire and it has been since opening day,” said Jeff Goldstein, a distribution executive vice president at Warner Bros., the studio that is distributing the film.
Two of the top five best-performing theaters, AMC Neshaminy and the AMC Cherry Hill, are from the Philadelphia area. Another local theater, Regal Riverview Plaza, cracked the top ten list of highest-grossing theaters. On most films, those lists are dominated by locations in New York and Los Angeles, Goldstein said.
“Creed” is doing well in those cities and is also performing strongly in major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, playing particularly well in communities with large Hispanic and African-American presences.
It’s not uncommon for films to do well in the places where they are set. For instance, both “Spotlight” and “Black Mass,” two fall releases that play up their Boston backdrops, did very well in the city when they debuted.
In the case of “Creed,” Philadelphia is almost a supporting character. The film recreates that run up the steps, features local landmarks such as South Philly’s Italian Market and plays up the fictional Balboa’s status as a hometown hero.
“Philadelphia is a part of all of the film’s DNA, so it makes sense it would play well there,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Rentrak. “When the heart of the movie is a certain geographical location, it usually does well there.”
article by Brent Lang via Variety.com
Posts tagged as “Sylvester Stallone”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv554B7YHk4&w=560&h=315]
This is two minutes and forty three seconds of just pure sublime. It’s Ryan Coogler’s Creed, the MGM/New Line film that Warner Bros will release this fall. This isn’t just another installment of Rocky. After Coogler and Michael B. Jordan teamed on the Sundance sensation Fruitvale Station, each of these young guys had their pick of projects. Coogler used his currency on his dream to make Creed. Turns out that while he was growing up, Coogler’s father showed him the Rocky movies to instill the notion of heroes and the idea that dreams can come true with hard work.
As he became an accomplished wide receiver at Sacramento State and a budding filmmaker, Coogler’s father later came down with ALS. All of the touchstones of his life are rolled into this movie and it required him to win the trust of Sylvester Stallone, who was very protective over his first and most memorable character creation. When the movie became a reality, there was no one else he wanted to play the role of Apollo Creed’s son (it started out as grandson, but that evolved).
It is becoming a right of passage for actors to play ring heroes, and, just like Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw, Miles Teller in Bleed for This and Edgar Ramirez in Hands Of Stone, Jordan accepted the challenge and got himself into rocking gym shape. The film follows the late Apollo Creed’s son Adonis Johnson stepping into the boxing ring, a profession which killed his father in Rocky IV when he battled Russian fighter Drago. “Your Daddy died in the ring,” a trainer reminds the young Creed who retorts, “That got nothin’ to do with me.” Adonis turns to Rocky Balboa to train him. At this point, The Italian Stallion has completely checked out of the boxing game.
Best part in the trailer that will raise hairs, is when the young Creed meets Rocky:
“I heard about a third fight between you and Apollo behind close doors, is that true?,” asks the fighter.
“How do you know all this?” asks Rocky.
Declares Johnson: “I’m his son.”
article by Anthony D’Alassandro via deadline.com
After over-performing at the box office in the past two weekends and receiving stellar reviews since its premiere at Sundance, Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan may now be looking to move into the boxing ring for their next project. MGM has set Coogler to direct, and is in early talks with Jordan to star in, Creed, the latest installment in the Rocky franchise that would focus on Apollo Creed’s grandson.
Sylvester Stallone is on board to reprise his role as Rocky Balboa, with Coogler penning the script along with Aaron Covington. Deadline Hollywood broke the news.
The story would follow Creed’s grandson, who has grown up reaping the spoils of all his grandfather’s winnings and is forbidden by his family to enter the world of boxing. Against his family’s wishes, he is drawn to boxing and seeks out Balboa to teach him how to fight and follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who produced the original film, will produce with Stallone and Kevin King.
article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Sylvester Stallone is on board to reprise his role as Rocky Balboa, with Coogler penning the script along with Aaron Covington. Deadline Hollywood broke the news.
The story would follow Creed’s grandson, who has grown up reaping the spoils of all his grandfather’s winnings and is forbidden by his family to enter the world of boxing. Against his family’s wishes, he is drawn to boxing and seeks out Balboa to teach him how to fight and follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who produced the original film, will produce with Stallone and Kevin King.
article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com