Michael B. Jordan and the Creed III Film Crew Talk New Challenges for the Iconic Franchise – Deadline Virtual Screening Series

Michael B. Jordan made his film debut last spring Creed III, the third entry in the Rocky franchise spin-off that has proven to be as popular as it is an impactful addition to the boxing classic’s cinematic legacy. With Jordan both behind and in front of the camera, this edition was just as impressive and celebrated as the previous ones.

Jordan joined me along with many of his craft after a screening of the film at the Deadline Virtual Screening Series on Thursday for a conversation with cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau, composer Joseph Shirley, editor Jess Baclesse, production designer Jahmin Assa and the head of hair by Elizabeth Robinson.

It felt like it was time for Jordan to take a more hands-on, creative approach to the series, with the blessing of original director Ryan Coogler.

“I think there were many different reasons. It wasn’t just one thing,” Jordan said. “I think it started with Ryan Cooller. Seeing him start the franchise and seeing someone who looked like me, was about the same age as me, with such a big franchise, it gave me confidence. I talked to him about it and said, “Mike, at the end of the day you have to get behind the camera, and what better way to do that than with a film like this?”

“What also played a big role is that this is the only time I played a character three times. I was very familiar with the character, the world, the family, and to act for the third time, nobody knows the character better than me, and I felt that it was the right time, the Creed family to really to the foreground together. I went in a direction I saw it and I know I can put together a team of people I’ve worked with before, especially shorthand with [cinematographer] Chandler.

“You know, I think Kramer played a big part in it too, just because it’s the fourth film we’ve done together and we developed a chemistry that I knew he would give me in a lot of ways if your back strengthen , with [producer] Irwin Winkler gives me the keys. It’s something that’s been around for a while, with Sly Stallone and that Rocky franchise, and now the religion Movies, it’s a world that exists. So it took all those things to really come together so that I felt really good about getting behind the camera and telling the story.

Morgenthau and Jordan wanted to see how far they could go, including the cameras. “I think Michael wanted to push this film as far as he could. You know, it was his first time as a director and he just wanted to come out swinging with whatever tools he had at his disposal, not just for the sake of it, but for the franchise and the genre to push them to their limits . “It’s a boundary, kind of pushing the boundaries, that comes with a film that’s part of a franchise, a ninth installment of a franchise,” he said. “And you know, I think he wanted to put his stamp on it, so we used all Imax cameras for the boxing scenes, so it felt like you were entering another world, like a gladiator world or larger than life.”

Production designer Assa talked about the challenge of finding just the right locations in Atlanta, where the majority of the film was shot (double for LA), and in the case of the house, making it look like upscale Los Angeles . He also mentioned that the fact that the daughter was deaf made some specific tasks even clearer, but also added to the authenticity of the environment. Head of Hair Robinson said the looks of the lead actresses, played by Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad, as well as young actress Mila Davis-Kent, were a significant part of the challenges she faced in just getting the to get the right look for the actors. to find

Film editor Baclese explained how adopting the montage sequence’s somewhat cliched sports film motif took on a different, story-driven tone Creed III. “We have been working on it constantly. There were many different versions of it and we just kept working on it. We kept trying new things. We kept reviewing all these different ideas and what became clearest to us was that you had to be emotionally connected to Adonis at that moment and understand where [opponent] Damian came here and what he pushed for,” she said.

Shirley, the first film composer, spoke of balancing a new direction for the series musically while respecting what had come before. “Creed III is the first step in a new direction for this franchise to go, the way Michael envisioned it and everyone worked toward that goal,” he said. “Now that we don’t have Sylvester Stallone in this particular film, we had to refer to other Creed films rather than maybe more about him Rocky musical brass band and the like. We referred [Rocky composer] Bill Conti at the end of the last fight, in a very, I would say, touching way, because you have to have it. It’s that conditioned response, but you want it and you need it, and it meant a lot to us at the end of that last fight that this very special Bill Conti addressed the distance issue.

Click on the video above to watch the panel discussion.