EPIX PRESENTS “FROM ROCKYTM TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES”
An Exclusive Presentation That Goes Behind the Scenes to Tell the Remarkable History of the Rocky Franchise
Features Interviews with Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Dolph Lundgren, Michael B. Jordan,
Tessa Thompson, Milo Ventimiglia and Ryan Coogler
Airs Wednesday, November 18 at 8PM ET/PT, 7CT
Premium TV network EPIX® announced today that it will air FROM ROCKY TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES, an exclusive presentation chronicling the 40-year story of the Rocky saga, one of Hollywood’s most successful collections of stories ever produced, on Wednesday, November 18 at 8PM ET/PT, 7CT.
Rocky is a film that parallels Sylvester Stallone’s own true story of obscurity to success. The one hour documentary tells the pugilistic love story from beginning to end directly through its creator, Stallone, who was virtually unknown in 1976 when he persuaded producers and a major studio to let him star in the film he penned. The movie told the gritty tale of a working class boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champion, and the film quickly became an overnight success, garnering three Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. It launched Stallone’s career as a box office megastar, spawned an iconic Billboard #1 theme song, and introduced the use of the Steadicam, which revolutionized the filmmaking industry.
FROM ROCKY TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES captures Sylvester Stallone and producers Irwin Winkler and the late Robert Chartoff sharing the franchise’s Cinderella story from the first film to the critically and commercially-successful sixth film, Rocky Balboa. Featured are Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed in Rocky I, II, III, IV) and Dolph Lundgren (Ivan Drago in Rocky IV), both of whom talk about the physicality and preparations to play their characters and how they landed the roles of their lives; Milo Ventimiglia (Robert Balboa, Jr. in Rocky Balboa) on playing Rocky’s son; and Academy Award®-winning director of photography and Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown (Rocky I, II) recounts the challenges attached to shooting the boxing sequences and how his invention captured the most memorable scene in the movie which, in Stallone’s words, led to “the shot of my life.”
The documentary also offers multi-generational fans an inside look at the new chapter in the Rocky story, Creed. The upcoming film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema is directed by award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station) and stars Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station, Fantastic Four) as Adonis Johnson, the son of Apollo Creed; Academy Award® nominee Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role; Tessa Thompson (Selma, Dear White People) as Bianca, a local singer-songwriter who becomes involved with Adonis; Phylicia Rashad (Lifetime’s “Steel Magnolias”) as Mary Anne Creed; and English pro boxer and former three-time ABA Heavyweight Champion Anthony Bellew as boxing champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan. Coogler directs from a screenplay he wrote with Aaron Covington, story by Coogler, based on characters from the Rocky series written by Sylvester Stallone. The film hits theaters on November 25, 2015. For more about Creed, go to http://creedthemovie.com.
FROM ROCKY TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES highlights the strong mentoring relationship between Stallone and Coogler, as well as the impact of the Apollo Creed character on our culture and the intense and inspirational preparations undertaken to deliver another new storyline for the enduring line of Rocky films. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.
To find out more about FROM ROCKY TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES visit http://www.epix.com/movie/from-rocky-to-creed-the-legacy-continues
FROM ROCKY TO CREED: THE LEGACY CONTINUES is an EPIX Exclusive Presentation, written and produced by David Stephan and Dan Goldman. David McKenzie, Jim Romanovich and Charles Winkler are the executive producers. Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan are the narrators
About EPIX
EPIX is a premium movie and original programming entertainment network delivering the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, comedy and music events on TV, on demand, online and on digital devices. Launched in October 2009, EPIX has pioneered the development and proliferation of “TV Everywhere.” It was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access to its content online at EPIX.com and to launch on Xbox, PlayStation®, Android phones and tablets, and Roku® players. EPIX is also available across Chromecast, Apple® iPhones® and iPads®, Android TV and more and is the only premium service providing all its programming on all platforms, delivering more movies than any other premium network, with thousands of titles available for streaming
EPIX is a joint venture between Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Through relationships with cable, satellite and telco partners, EPIX is available to over 50 million homes nationwide. For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHD (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD
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