The “Rocky” franchise began in 1976. The film was directed by John G. Avildsen and starred Sylvester Stallone, who wrote the script. The end result was a film that became a sleeper hit, making over two hundred million dollars on a budget of slightly over a million, garnering ten Oscars nominations of which it won three for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing, and made a star out of Stallone.

The franchise would conclude in 2006 with “Rocky Balboa” which was directed by Stallone who also wrote the script and starred in the film. It was an unexpected financial success that revived the “Rocky” after the low box-office results of “Rocky V” in 1990 which was supposed to be the final “Rocky” film.

With renewed interest in the franchise, it was confirmed in 2013 that director Ryan Coogler, the director of the multiple award winning film, “Fruitvale Station” would direct the spin-off and would co-write the script.

Actor Michael B. Jordan who starred in Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” signed on to portray the son of character Apollo Creed who was portrayed by actor Carl Weathers in series until his character was killed in “Rocky IV.”

Stallone signed on later to co-produce and portray Rocky. The reported synopsis for the film is that Adonis Creed (Jordan) travels to Philadelphia to seek out retired veteran boxer Rocky Balboa and requests that he train him while Rocky faces an enemy more deadly than any he has faced in the ring.

It is highly possible that this will be the last film to feature Stallone’s Rocky with Jordan’s Creed set to take the helm of the franchise if the spinoff is successful. Filming was reported to have started in January of this year in various parts of Philadelphia with Warner Brothers (WB) announcing in February that the film would be set for a 25 November release of this year. The film would be released alongside Pixar’s “The Good Dinosaur,” Fox’s “The Martian,” WB’s “Midnight Special,” and Sony’s upcoming “Xmas” film starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Without a doubt, the “Rocky” spin-off will be facing tough competition and only time will tell if it will be able to capture the essence and high spirit of the previous films or even the first “Rocky.”