Creed III Sees Strong Box Office Opening, Crosses $100 Million Mark on First Weekend

Creed III, the directorial debut of Michael B. Jordan — who also leads the cast of the film as the titular Adonis ‘Donnie' Creed — has opened to strong box office performances globally, crossing the $100 million (approximately Rs. 817 crore) mark in its first weekend. The big-budget sports drama film is the third instalment in the Creed film series, which is itself a continuation of the Rocky film series popularised by Sylvester Stallone. With this strong opening, Creed III has risen to the top of the box office ratings for the past weekend, collecting close to $59 million (approximately Rs. 482 crore) in North America and the remaining $41 million (approximately Rs. 335 crore) or so from international markets.

As per a report by Variety, Creed III's box office opening is the best yet for the Creed franchise, far outperforming other films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which collected $12.5 million (approximately Rs. 102 crore), and Cocaine Bear (Review) which dropped to $11 million (approximately Rs. 90 crore) in North America.

Interestingly, the report also states that international box office collections don't include Japan, where the film is scheduled to release in May, making the box-office performance figures even more impressive. The Creed franchise kicked off with Creed in 2015 — a continuation of the long-running Rocky series. Notably, Creed III is the first film in the extended Rocky universe to not feature the iconic character of Rocky Balboa, played in many films through the years by Sylvester Stallone.

Michael B. Jordan directs Creed III in his directorial debut, apart from continuing to play the titular role of Adonis ‘Donnie' Creed, a successful boxer who must face his childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors) who returns to challenge his dominance in the sport after a stint in prison. Jonathan Majors also plays the role of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

While Creed III dominates the box office for now, March will see quite a few noteworthy theatrical releases, including John Wick: Chapter 4 and Adam Driver-starrer 65. In India, Creed III released on March 3 and is currently playing in theatres across the country.