Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors took to the stage Sunday night to present the Oscar for Best Cinematography. As they strode to the microphone, Jordan — who starred with Angela Bassett in both Black Panther and the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — looked to his co-star and hit her with one of his iconic quotes.
“Hey, Auntie.”
Majors followed it with a, “We love you,” to the iconic actress as she sat in the front row in a stunning purple dress. Bassett was one of the favorites to take home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but Everything Everywhere All At Once‘s Jamie Lee Curtis heard her name called instead.
I’m sure she appreciated the love from two wonderful actors.
Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors give a shoutout to Angela Bassett: "Hey Auntie, we love you." #Oscarspic.twitter.com/xIQlVq8AOZ
Sylvester Stallone — the man who penned the original 1976 Best Picture film, its ensuing five sequels, and had been in all eight preceding entries — does NOT appear in the latest chapter of Adonis Creed’s saga.
For the most part, as the series starts to veer more toward Creed’s story, Stallone’s absence isn’t all that noticeable. But for someone who quite literally created this fictional boxing world to not even make a short cameo is … a little jarring.
The situation is also a bit more complicated than it lets on. Let me explain.
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Creed III set a box office record for sports movies this weekend.
Creed III punched its way into record books this weekend at the box office.
With an estimated $58.6 million box office tally, the Michael B. Jordan-directed sequel notched the biggest-ever opening weekend for a sports movie in film history.
It’s a massive win for the box office and for Creed III, which earned stellar reviews and also gave the Rocky/Creed franchise its best-ever weekend at the multiplex.
Even without longtime franchise star Sylvester Stallone appearing in this latest installment, Creed III is setting itself up to be one of the real financial successes of 2023 so far. It’s clearly going the distance in theaters right now.
BOX OFFICE: #CreedIII grabs #1 w/ $58.6M this weekend. That is.. – The biggest opening of all the #Creed & #Rocky movies – The biggest opening ever for a sports movie – The biggest opening ever for a Black director in their directorial debut – The biggest opening ever for Amazon pic.twitter.com/cKzICLc7NT
MORE: #CreedIII & #AntMan star Jonathan Majors achieves the rare feat of having two consecutive #1 movies in back-to-back weekends. No one else is mentioning this in their reporting, but I think it’s quite significant & a sign that Majors is going to conquer Hollywood pic.twitter.com/2ZGAYvzTc9
In the 1985 boxing classic, Rocky IV, there is a training montage that spans roughly eight minutes of the movie (not counting the brief conversation between Rocky Balboa and his wife in the middle). It depicts the intense workouts of both the American Balboa and the Russian Ivan Drago, highlighting the stark disparity between the technology available to each.
For Balboa, it’s a wooden shack in the frozen Russian tundra. He uses the barn for pull-ups and crunches. He pulls plows. He chops trees. He runs laps in the track cleared for the minimal traffic that comes through (mainly the black sedans of the agents watching him train).
For Drago, it’s all about the future. Doctors watch every crunch. Laps are run around a sterile track. He lifts only the heaviest and newest weights. There’s like a climbing device of some sort.
All throughout we’re serenaded with synth pop and “Hearts on Fire” by John Cafferty. It can only be described as art.
While the Rocky IV montage is perhaps the most ridiculous workout sequence in the series, they’ve become part of the franchise’s identity. In 2015’s Creed — the first of a now-trilogy with the release of Creed III on March 3 — the montage was reborn.
Michael B. Jordan plays Adonis Creed in the trilogy, the son of Rocky’s enemy-turned-friend (or frenemy if you will) that he is trying to avenge in the fight that required the aforementioned training. Creed’s montage starts in the hospital where Adonis is helping Balboa go through chemotherapy and ends in the oh-so-influential streets of Philadelphia.
It’s emotional. It’s impressive. It’s motivating. It shows that while this boxing match against “Pretty” Ricky Conlan is looming, it’s not the only thing important to him.
In 2018’s Creed II, Adonis goes back to the basics as they take a page out of Balboa’s book to beat a Drago (this time Ivan’s son, Viktor). Once again a Drago looks overly prepared with training, as our underdog has to overcome heat, exhaustion, ice baths and that moment of helplessness where it feels so pointless to continue.
So what exactly goes into making a sports montage — specifically one in the Creed series — the best possible?
“It has to kinda relate to what the character is going through in the story,” Jordan — who made his directorial debut with Creed III — said in an interview with For the Win. “What’s going on outside the ring, you have to tie that in somehow. What does he learn in the montage that he needs to learn about life? That he needs to learn about the fight?”
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In Creed III, Creed must fight his former best friend and boxing idol, Dame Anderson (played by the remarkable Jonathan Majors), and his montage reflects his slow growth out of retirement. He’s surrounded by friends and family as he trains, in stark contrast to the lonely and clinical prep of Anderson.
Don’t fret, however. It’s not all feelings and growth in the most recent montage. He also pulls a small plane.
Creed III is out in theaters nationwide on Friday, March 3.
Joined by Eli Manning and Shaun O’Hara, actor Michael B. Jordan attempted to recreate what is arguably the greatest catch in Giants history.
Michael B. Jordan, assuming the moniker of “MBJ,” joined retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning on the latest episode of “The Eli Manning Show” this week.
Jordan was given his own locker, his own uniform and was then allowed to conduct an in-house interview before taking the field. There, joined by Manning and retired center Shaun O’Hara, the trio went on to recreate the greatest catch in Giants history.
MBJ channeled his inner OBJ by attempting to mimic Odell Beckham Jr.’s miraculous one-handed catch against the Dallas Cowboys on November 23, 2014.
To Jordan’s credit, he did go up and bring down the pass but it wasn’t quite the one-handed gem Beckham made. Still, it was enough to impress Manning and O’Hara.
“I’m not gonna lie: I didn’t think you’d be able to make some of these catches,” Manning told Jordan. “But that was one take. This is all live. This is legit. And you showed up.”
The Creed actor said it was the “hardest thing” he’s ever had to do.
“This is a dream come true, to be on the field with you two, reliving and remaking these plays,” Jordan said. “I’m gonna take this with me the rest of my life.”
Michael B. Jordan is coming for your crown, Odell Beckham Jr.
Michael B. Jordan showed off his Friday Night Lights football skills to recreate one of the greatest catches in NFL history.
On Thursday, the New York Giants released the latest episode of The Eli Manning Show, featuring Jordan ahead of the release of Creed III next month. Jordan, a long time Giants fan, had the time of his life hanging out with Manning, but the real fun began when the two stepped out onto the field together.
Manning and Jordan teamed up to recreate Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous catch from 2014 against the Dallas Cowboys. From the snap to the throw and the eventual catch, it was a thing of beauty.
Sure, you have to dock some points considering Jordan caught it with two hands and Beckham Jr.’s was with one, but it’s an impressive snag nonetheless. Jordan was still quite appreciative of the moment on his Twitter afterwards.
One of the biggest boxing series of the century is gearing up for a 2023 return. Filming for Creed III is underway and it ought to be as good as the first two installations.
One edge the trilogy might have over Creed I and II is casting. While Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson are set for a return, there’s a real-life boxer apparently going to make a cameo, at the very least.
That boxer? Canelo Alvarez.
Jordan, who plays the lead role of Adonis Creed, revealed on Instagram a picture of himself and Alvarez with a caption that indicates Alvarez’s involvement in the upcoming film.
Speaking of trilogies, Canelo is a part of another one that comes much sooner.
On September 17th, he’ll face Gennady Golovkin in the ring for the third time. The first bout between the two resulted in a draw, and the second was a majority-decision win for Alvarez.
As we head into the third bout, Canelo opens up as a huge favorite (-650 at Tipico Sportsbook).
WHEN CANELO AND GGG THROW DOWN, YOU DON'T JUST SEE THE PUNCHES, YOU HEAR THEM!
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La información surgió en la previa de la pelea que sostendrá el mexicano ante GGG en una trilogía que llena de emoción a los aficionados
El Canelo Álvarez será de pantalla gigante pues se confirmó su participación en la nueva película de la saga de Creed por el propio protagonista de la misma el actor Michael B. Jordan.
La tercera edición de la película de Creed inspirada en la historia de Rocky Balboa será estrenada en marzo del 2023 pero el propio actor publicó un mensaje agradeciendo la participación del Canelo, Saúl Álvarez.
“Dirigiendo a la leyenda en persona, el ‘Canelo’ Álvarez en ‘Creed III’. No puedo esperar para que el mundo la vea el 3 de marzo. Una estrella dentro del cuadrilátero y fuera. Bienvenido a la familia, ¡buena suerte este fin de semana!”, publicó Michael B. Jordan.
Foto ESPECIAL
La información surgió en la previa de la pelea que sostendrá el mexicano ante GGG en una trilogía que también llena de emoción a los aficionados que esperan ver al mexicano regresar a la senda del triunfo.
El T-Mobile Arena de Las Vegas ya tiene nueva información para vibrar este sábado en la tercera edición de este combate de época entre el mexicano y el kazajo en el marco de los festejos patrios en México por la Independencia nacional.
WATCH: Tom Izzo surprises Michigan State superfan Michael B. Jordan with invite to East Lansing
In case you didn’t know, Michael Jordan is a huge fan of Michigan State basketball. No, not that MJ, the other one from Black Panther, Creed, and many other classic movies, Michael B. Jordan. Jordan has been seen rocking an MSU jersey on multiple occasions and supporting the program.
This week, Jordan was a guest on Taylor Rooks’ podcast for Bleacher Report, and she surprised him with a fun little message from Tom Izzo, inviting Jordan out for Midnight Madness or a big home game at the Breslin Center.