'Creed III' Had a Monster Weekend at the Box Office

Earning an estimated $58.7 million at the domestic box office, Creed III has achieved the biggest opening weekend for a sports film.

Michael B. Jordan's directorial debut Creed III has turned into a blockbuster smash. The film, which costars Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and Wood Harris, amassed $58.7 million at the domestic box office this weekend, also earning another $41.8 million overseas this weekend, bringing its first-weekend global total to $100.4 million. With reported production budget of $75 million, the Warner Bros. Pictures flick has scored the biggest opening weekend for a sports film in history.

“This is beyond all of our expectations. And we knew that we had something special — we tested the movie and it tested great, but the public responded so resoundingly to it,” Erik Lomis, MGM’s head of distribution, told the Associated Press. “Everything went right here starting with the movie itself … It was just up to us not to break it when they gave it to us and we didn’t.”

Creed III makes a directorial first for Jordan, who also stars as protaganist Adonis Creed in the boxing franchise. The latest film is the first not to star Sylvester Stallone, who played Creed's mentor, Rocky, from the iconic franchise of the same name.

"Rocky's always gonna be a part of this franchise," Jordan told ESPN. "These characters are all built off of that energy and that momentum. But we felt like it was the perfect time to have Adonis step out on his own two feet, as a man making his [own] decisions. He needed to find that wisdom within his family and look inward."