Movies February 27, 2023
‘Creed III’ Star Michael B. Jordan on His Directorial Debut & Possible 4th Movie (Exclusive)
Michael B. Jordan sat down with “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay to talk “Creed III,” which marks his directorial debut!
Jordan opened up about getting behind the camera and the evolution of his character Adonis, as well as training alongside his movie rival Jonathan Majors and their close bond.
Jordan admitted that he was “flirting” with both acting and directing at the moment. He said, “I've been in a director mode for such a long time and it feels good to empower, support, you know, give flowers to my actors right now.”
Since Michael’s also an actor, he knew how to use it to his advantage while directing his co-star Jonathan Majors.
Though they play rivals on-screen, they had a strong bond offscreen. He explained, “I think that bond came from just us gaining trust within one another… and as an actor knowing what an actor would want from a director but then… playing both sides but Jonathan is an incredible human.”
The two even worked out together in preparation for the movie. Michael shared, “We built everything together, you know? And especially in the beginning we went through, you know, hell months, not even hell week, hell months… of training together, learning the choreo together, it's very, very intimate, you know, and he's a hard worker, I am as well. So when it comes to, you know, the physicality element, we pushed each other.”
In this movie, Jordan tackles vulnerability and toxic masculinity. He said, “I think that was something that started to reveal itself as we were trying to challenge Adonis and just talk about what will somebody like him be going through right now in today's like climate… dealing with success and the family and the outside noise and balancing it all.”
Michael wanted to change the perspective that men are viewed as weak when they express emotion. He went on, “This is something that needs that we need to talk about and with the writers and everybody else, we found an organic way to do it.”
Will there be a fourth movie in the franchise? Jordan answered, “I think the idea behind possibly where this character can go and also just the world the Creedverse as a whole… There's so many different platforms where these stories can be told, you know… whether it's a spin-off of the TV show, whether it's you know the animation or graphic novel or a video game.”
“Creed III” hits theaters March 3.