Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa in the "Creed"

            For the seventh time in his illustrious career, Sylvester Stallone portrays his most iconic role of boxing legend Rocky Balboa, in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Creed” which explores a new chapter in the “Rocky” story, now focusing on Adonis, the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s late best friend.


           
Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born.  Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.
            “He thinks that because Rocky was close to Apollo, he might be the only other person who could understand what he’s going through, and that because of his history with the father, he’ll be willing to train the son,” Jordan offers.  “But that’s not the case.”

Rocky makes it clear he’s not interested in going back to that world, and, Jordan says, “that just because his father’s Apollo Creed doesn’t mean he’ll become a world champion.  It takes a lot of hard work.”

But the wholly self-trained Adonis doesn’t shy away from hard work; he’s ready to knuckle down.  That says a lot to someone like Rocky, who decides to take him on despite his misgivings.

            Having created Rocky Balboa and played him in six prior incarnations, Stallone slipped easily back into the role, eager to explore the character in this phase of his life, when he’s presented with this unexpected opportunity.  “Even though the character comes out of me, I wish I was able to be more like him,” Stallone laughs.  “He’s the epitome of patience, there’s not a mean bone in his body and, though he’s very competitive, he fights for pride.”

            “Sly knows Rocky better than anybody, and he knows more about the sport of boxing and how to make a movie about it than I ever could,” director Ryan Coogler says.  “We’d be writing scenes and I’d call and ask him, ‘What would Rocky do here?’  If I had ideas, he’d be the first person I’d call.  If he had an idea, he’d call me.  He was so generous.  It was a great collaboration.”


            “Boxing, probably like most sports, is about 80 percent in your head,” Stallone surmises.  “You can be defeated before you walk out of the dressing room.  That’s why a good corner man has to be a psychoanalyst, right on the spot.  He’s got to hold his guy together.  It’s a pretty extraordinary occupation, and I thought it was a great place for Rocky to go—to take everything he’s known from all his years as a fighter and give it to this kid.”

            Having been in and around the boxing arena—both fictional and real—for so long, Stallone has had ample opportunity to examine what makes a boxer tick.  “Why fight when you don’t have to?  What drives the fighter?  It’s a very unique personality who wants to challenge himself in that way.  Even Rocky, who is so gentle; when he’s in the ring there’s a primal thing that kicks in.  It’s about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, testing yourself in this ultimate, mano a mano fashion that most people wouldn’t do.”

            Stallone adds that, in addition to the emotions that come with the highs and lows of Rocky’s own life story, when confronted with Apollo’s son, “he’s suddenly faced with the grief of losing Apollo again, and feeling responsible for that death.  He’s never really come to terms with it.  Now he’s not only reminded, but he sees this kid, who looks so much like his friend, looking back at him, wanting to step into this dangerous arena and wanting Rocky to take him there.  And Rocky doesn’t want to; he doesn’t want to feel responsible for Apollo’s kid getting hurt, too.  But he knows if he doesn’t do it, someone else will, and Donnie may really get hurt.  If Rocky does his best, maybe he can keep him safe, and make up for what happened all those years ago.”

            Opening across the Philippines on Dec. 09, 2015, “Creed” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

JAMIE BELL ROCKS AS THE THING IN THE NEW “FANTASTIC FOUR”

   
      
 Multi-faceted actor Jamie Bell who came to prominence with his award-winning performance in the British dance drama “Billy Elliot” now transforms into a hero with epic strength as Benjamin Grimm aka The Thing in this year’s highly anticipated superhero film “Fantastic Four.”

              Directed by Josh Trank, “Fantastic Four” brings Bell to co-star with equally talented young actors such as Miles Teller in the role of Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as Sue Storm aka the Invisible Woman and Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch in the stand alone and contemporary re-imagining of Marvel’s first (original) superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961.

              Written by blockbuster maker Simon Kinberg (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “X-Men: The Last Stand”), the latest “Fantastic Four” resets everything as it introduces an origins story of a young group of friends who are dynamic, intelligent and courageous before being transformed into powerful heroes the world has ever known.   In this cutting-edge version of director Trank,  “Fantastic Four” brings the brilliant and brave young friends in what could be mankind’s first journey to an alternative universe. But during the mission, each of their physical form is altered, granting them unmatched strength and abilities.

              More than playing The Thing who possesses unimaginable strength, Bell’s Ben Grimm is best friends with the brainy Reed Richards. As Ben, he is someone who is conflicted, who is inside himself, who's kind of stuck.  He thinks that maybe baseball is his way out.  Ironically he then gets stuck and can't find a way out but along with Reed and their newfound friends and his altered appearance, he has finally found a way to channel his inner strength to greater heights.
             
              On filming scenes where he appears as The Thing, Bell shares that director Trank was unmovable that his character still retains his human soul through his eyes. “On every setup where I would play The Thing, there was always six to 10 reference cameras shooting my face, sometimes even just the back of my head, just to get everything, to capture reactions.  The performance aspect always remains the same, in that you 100 percent come to life as a different being.  It's so immersive, and it kind of has to be.  For the technology to really work, you have to focus on every tiny little physicality.  I would say, “When I come to a stop, can we just make sure that dust comes off me?”  I just wanted to make sure that we never lost his organic matter. Fortunately, Kevin Mack (Visual Effects Supervisor)’s kind of a genius with that stuff,” enthused Bell on filming his scenes.

              “Jamie’s someone I’ve always been a fan of, since Billy Elliot. I’ve followed his career and always wanted to work with him. Knowing him in real life I knew there was a shade of his personality that could organically embody who I feel this character needs to be in this movie. I suggested it to the studio, they loved it, they knew he was a great actor. So I called him up. I think he was a bit surprised to get the call but we had a great conversation about the character and the next day he read the script and said, “If you want me, I’m in!” said Trank on casting Bell.

              Prepare for a rocking new experience in theatres when the new “Fantastic Four” opens on August 5 nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.