Star: ‘Creed III’ to focus on ‘new era’
Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa won’t be in the third installment of “Creed,” but not because of any rivalry with star Michael B. Jordan.
Jordan, 35, in a recent interview with Total Film, explained the absence of Stallone in the most recent installment of the franchise started by the 76-year-old actor.
“We wouldn’t have Donnie without Rocky, and he will always be a pillar in Donnie’s life, but ‘Creed III’ is really the dawn of a new era for the franchise and the character,” Jordan told the outlet.
“It was really important from a storytelling perspective to get to a pivotal point in Donnie’s career a few years down the line where he has really established himself with his professional career and his family,” he continued.
Stallone, who wrote the screenplay for and starred in the original “Rocky,” earned an Oscar nomination for his role.
The film took home multiple Academy Awards, including one for best picture. It was followed by multiple sequels before the series rebooted with Jordan. The first “Creed” hit theaters in 2015 and, after much critical and commercial success, spawned a sequel in 2018. “Creed III” is due out in March.
The “Creed” series, led by director Ryan Coogler, spotlights the relationship between Jordan’s Donnie, son of Rocky’s rival-turned-friend Apollo Creed. Rocky mentors Donnie in the first two films.
Drummer Green diagnosed with cancer:
Jeremiah Green, the drummer and a founding member of rock band Modest Mouse, has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, according to a family member. Green’s mother, Carol Namatame, recently announced her son’s diagnosis
on Facebook.
“Please send healing vibes for my son, Jeremiah Green, who is battling stage 4 cancer,” Namatame wrote Dec. 25. “He is so strong and so brave and hanging in there!”
On Dec. 26, Marco Collins, a popular Seattle rock radio DJ, shared that Green had pulled out of the band’s tour to undergo chemotherapy treatments.
“Despite having a stage 4 diagnosis, his prognosis is good!” Collins wrote on Twitter. “Also his oncologist is a big (Modest Mouse) fan (so he’s got that in his corner!)”
Throughout the 1990s, Modest Mouse became an influential force in the independent rock scene.
Bob Penny, an Alabama college professor and actor who performed small roles in movies including “Forrest
Bit actor Penny dies:
Gump” and “Sweet Home Alabama,” has died at age 87. Penny died on Christmas Day, according to an obituary from a funeral home in Huntsville. No cause of death was given.
Penny was a poet who spent three decades as an English professor. During the 1980s, Penny found work on the side by acting in TV commercials. Penny got deeper into acting after retiring from the university in 1990 and appeared in more than 30 movies and TV series.
Jan. 2 birthdays: TV host Jack Hanna is 76. Actor Wendy Phillips is 71. Actor Cynthia Sikes is 69. Actor Tia Carrere is 56. Actor Renee Elise Goldsberry is 52. Actor Taye Diggs is 52. Actor Dax Shepard is 48. Actor Kate Bosworth is 40. Actor Anthony Carrigan is 40. Musician Trombone Shorty is 37.