WASHINGTON – “Rocky” fans, rejoice.
The trailer just dropped for the franchise’s seventh installment, “Creed.”
It follows Adonis Creed, son of the late Apollo Creed, as he trains as a boxer under Rocky Balboa.
Sylvester Stalone will reprise his role as Rocky, while the young Creed will be played by Michael B. Jordan (“The Wire”). The cast also includes Phylicia Rashad and Jordan’s “Wire” co-star Wood Harris.
The film is written and directed by talented rising filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who previously directed Jordan in the 2013 Sundance champ “Fruitvale Station.”
That makes “Creed” the first film in the series not written by Stallone, who relinquishes the reins after six installments of various degrees of success.
The 1976 original is an all-time classic as the rare movie to win the box office and Best Picture.
The sequel brought a rematch with Apollo (Carl Weathers) and added the line: “Yo, Adrian! I did it!”
The third installment killed off Mickey (Burgess Meredith) at the hands of Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and added the famous Survivor song, “Eye of the Tiger.”
The fourth installment killed off Apollo at the hands of Soviet heel Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).
The fifth installment was a flop about protege Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison).
And the sixth installment recovered the franchise a sliver of respectability as it entered Rocky into a post-Adrian world to take on Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver).
