I’m Worried About Creed 4 After New Michael B. Jordan Movie Remake Update

Michael B. Jordan has been confirmed as the director and star of the newly-announced remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, which could put Creed IV on hold for a few years – and that worries me. Jordan made his directorial debut with Creed III, which saw Donnie facing his troubled past when an old friend was released from prison and came after his championship title. After Creed III was widely acclaimed by critics and became a hit at the box office upon its release in 2023, the studio wasted no time putting a fourth film into active development, with Jordan returning to direct.

But now, Jordan has signed on to direct a totally unrelated movie first. Before he moves on to Creed IV, Jordan is directing The Thomas Crown Affair remake for Amazon MGM Studios. Jordan is also set to star in the film and produce, alongside Elizabeth Raposo, through his production label, Outlier Society. While I’m excited that Jordan is getting more directing work after doing such a great job on Creed III, I’m concerned that his Thomas Crown Affair schedule will keep him from making Creed IV for a few years.

Michael B. Jordan Is Directing The Thomas Crown Affair Remake Before Creed 4

Jordan Is Focusing His Attention Away From The Creed Franchise

Jordan is set to direct, produce, and star in the new Thomas Crown Affair redo, and they’re currently looking to cast the female lead, indicating that it’s a priority project for Jordan. If he was lining up The Thomas Crown Affair to direct after Creed IV, they wouldn’t be casting the film so actively. Since it’s going straight into pre-production, they’re probably eyeing a shoot date in the near future. It seems likely that The Thomas Crown Affair will be Jordan’s next directorial project and Creed IV is getting pushed back until he’s done with that.

Jordan’s remake will be the third cinematic iteration of The Thomas Crown Affair. The original 1968 heist movie classic was directed by Norman Jewison and starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. In 1999, Die Hard’s John McTiernan remade the movie with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo in the lead roles. Jordan has been trying to get a new remake of The Thomas Crown Affair off the ground since as far back as 2016 (via /Film), so it’s clearly a passion project. That means it’ll probably take precedence over Creed IV.

Creed 4 Has To Wait A Few Years Now For Michael B. Jordan

It Takes Around Two Years To Direct A Feature Film

Since Jordan is already confirmed to direct Creed IV, it’ll probably be a few years before we see the next Creed movie. Unless the plan changes and Jordan hands the director’s chair over to another filmmaker, Creed IV will have to wait until The Thomas Crown Affair is done. If another director does take on Creed IV, then they can get pre-production underway while Jordan is working on The Thomas Crown Affair. If Jordan is just acting and not directing, then he’ll only need to find room in his schedule to squeeze in the shoot.

But Jordan is just as passionate about the Creed franchise as he is about The Thomas Crown Affair, so he’ll likely want to hold onto both directing jobs. That’s perfectly fine – I’m sure he’ll do a great job with both films – but it does mean that Creed IV will have to sit on the backburner for a while. Directing a feature film from conception to the final edit usually takes around two years – one-and-a-half years at the very least – so it’ll probably be a long time before Jordan steps back into the world of Adonis Creed.

Creed 4 Is Moving Slower Than I Imagined After Creed 3’s Success

I Thought The Studio Would Fasttrack Creed 4 After Creed 3 Did So Well

After the blockbuster success of Creed III, I thought Jordan and his team would get the cameras rolling on Creed IV as soon as possible. But it’s been well over a year since Creed III arrived in theaters and Creed IV is no closer to becoming a reality. Now, we’ll have to wait for Jordan to make a whole other movie before work can get started on it. Creed IV is in development, but you’d think it’d be a top priority for all involved, and that doesn’t seem to be the case.

There were three years between each of the first four Rocky films, and Sylvester Stallone wrote and directed the first three sequels in addition to starring. Creed II kept up this tradition, arriving just three years after the first Creed film, but Creed III arrived five years after that. That five-year gap could partly be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused months-long delays to countless Hollywood productions. But we’re out of the pandemic now, and Creed IV is looking like it’ll take even longer.

Source: /Film