The Michael B. Jordan-directed Creed III rose to the top of the box office during its opening weekend.
Starring Jordan, Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Mila Davis-Kent and Wood Harris, among others, the ninth film in the Rocky series follows a retired Adonis Creed, who became successful both inside and outside of the ring, as he is pulled back into the fight game by and friend from his past that eventually becomes the most dangerous adversary he’s ever faced.
Domestically, the film opened to $58.6 million in about three days, and earned $22 million on Friday alone. The third installment of the Creed franchise not only hit a series-high, but this weekend it also became the biggest sports film opening in history. Additionally, Jordan had the largest opening ever for a Black director in their directorial debut, a feat he achieved just a few days following the ceremony for his Hollywood Walk of Fame induction.
Creed III was also a champion overseas, opening to a franchise-best $41.8 million, and $100.4 million globally. It’s the first sports film that was shot with IMAX-certified digital cameras, and features 26 minutes of expanded IMAX exclusive expanded aspect ratio. It is also the first major picture released internationally by Warner Bros under a multi-year deal that was entered with Amazon-owned MGM last summer.
Due to its high numbers, the movie knocked off Marvel and Disney’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania down to the second spot, selling an estimated $12.5 million from 3,825 locations. The popular superhero film also stars Majors, who was cast as the villainous Kang the Conqueror, who is set to be a power player in the MCU for years to come.
With the success of Creed III, brings optimism for the rest of the film industry. Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement to Variety, “Michael did an excellent job launching this film and, in doing so, offering further proof that the box office is back and ready to support this year’s strong, diversified slate.”