Creed 3 proves the heavyweight champion at the box office after setting the record for the biggest opening for a sports film! Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut brought in $58.7 million on its debut weekend, knocking out every other film in theaters. This stellar performance finally surpassed 2015 Creed‘s $29.6 million and 2018 Creed 2‘s $35.5 million opening.
Internationally, the highly anticipated MGM film raked in $41.8 million and is expected to justify its budget production of $75 million in just a few days. The Amazon-distributed project is also hailed as the most expensive in the Creed series.
Creed 3 Gives Knockout Performance As It Continues To Break International Box Office
Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, said that Creed 3 continues to attract viewers from all generations (via LA Times):
“For many franchises, the law of diminishing returns applies, but ‘Creed’ is a welcome exception, and the continued interest and excitement that moviegoers have for this character and these films that are generational and spiritual successors to the ‘Rocky’ brand, one that started almost 50 years ago, is quite remarkable.”
Meanwhile, MGM head of distribution Erik Lomis claimed the success was beyond their expectations. He told Daily Mail:
“And we knew that we had something special — we tested the movie and it tested great, but the public responded so resoundingly to it. Everything went right here starting with the movie itself… it was just up to us not to break it when they gave it to us and we didn’t.”
The film also benefitted from Imax tickets, which are pricier than regular ones. According to Variety, 38% of business profit came from premium large-format screens. Imax CEO Rich Gelfond said:
“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.”
Creed 3 received excellent reviews and ratings, with an 87% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A-minus from CinemaScore. This impressive directorial debut pits Adonis Creed (Jordan), the son of the legendary Apollo Creed (Sylvester Stallone), against his childhood friend turned rival, Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors). Although, fans won’t see Stallone in this installment as the Rocky actor left the film due to creative differences. His absence did not appear as a variable when it came to ticket sales.
Amazon And MGM Reap Fruits Of Labor Via Creed 3’s Immense Success
Creed 3’s victorious start at the box office brought a win for Amazon as well. The company purchased MGM for $8.5 billion in 2022 and decided to go for a theatrical release instead of putting it on the streaming platform Amazon Prime.
Lomis admitted that Amazon took the risk for this movie (via Daily Mail):
“Amazon threw their weight behind this movie like only they can do. They supercharged the campaign with marketing support across all their verticals on the platform and beyond the platform. That shows a commitment to the theatrical business model from Amazon and MGM.”
Now that the theater business is slowly making a comeback and restrictions have finally eased, the public can now enjoy an action-packed movie that also brings a lot of lessons and inspiration.
Creed 3 is now showing in theaters worldwide.
Source: LA Times, Daily Mail, Variety
