Warner Bros. and MGM Pictures have unveiled the first official Creed synopsis for Fruitvale Station writer/director Ryan Coogler’s next film, and it certainly sounds like an official entry in the Rocky franchise. The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson, the son of world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. When Adonis decides he wants to follow in his father’s footsteps, he heads to Philadelphia and lures the one and only Rocky out of retirement to help him train.

We knew Sylvester Stallone had a role in Creed, but this official synopsis confirms that he’s very much a co-star in the film, which will essentially serve as the seventh entry in the Rocky franchise. I kind of like the idea of Rocky filling the role of Mickey in his older age, and Creed really feels like the logical next step in keeping the franchise alive without exhausting its titular character.

Light has also been shed on some of the film's supporting characters, as Tessa Thompson (Selma) plays Bianca, a local singer-songwriter who becomes involved with Adonis, Phylicia Rashad (Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias) plays Apollo’s widow Mary Anne Creed, and English pro boxer Anthony Bellew will play boxing champ “Pretty” Ricky Conlan, who is presumably Adonis’s opponent.

Check out the official Creed synopsis below, via Warner Bros. Coogler co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Covington and Stallone also acts as a producer on the film. Creed will open in theaters on November 25th.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures comes award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s “Creed.”  The film explores a new chapter in the “Rocky” story and stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role.  The film also reunites Coogler with his “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed.

 

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born.  Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.

 

Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer.  Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend.  Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring.

With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?