Creed director Ryan Coogler says a Sylvester Stallone sequel looks 'real'

The director of Creed, Ryan Coogler, has told Newsbeat that a sequel looks "very real" but he may not direct it.

The award-winning Rocky spin-off stars Sylvester Stallone, who returns to play his most famous character, boxer Rocky Balboa.

His performance earned him a nomination for best supporting actor at this year's Oscars.

Co-star Michael B. Jordan says he is "definitely down to do a sequel, if it is going to happen".

Michael B Jordan and Sylvester Stallone

The question is though, will Ryan Coogler, who played such an instrumental role in the first film, be a part of it?

The 29-year-old is in high demand, particularly after he was selected by Marvel to direct Black Panther.

It will be the first comic book movie to have a black superhero as its lead.

"It's complicated because I'm working on Black Panther right now," he tells Newsbeat.

"A sequel to Creed is very real. MGM are talking about it, Warner Bros are talking about it.

"So, I mean if that becomes a reality, it all comes down to how fast those guys want to move. And that will really determine if I direct it."

Sylvester Stallone tweets two photographs comparing a scene from Rocky and a scene from Creed and says: "How time flies."

Among its award wins so far, Creed was named Black Film Critics Circle best movie of 2015.

But despite its success, Ryan reveals it took time to convince Sylvester Stallone to take part in the film, which he had dreamt of making for years.

He says: "At first we would talk through reps, but once we spoke to each other we made a lot of progress. We became close."

So, did he eventually wear Sly down?

"Kind of," Ryan laughs. "It was his family too. His wife Jennifer told him he should do it. He was apprehensive because he had so much to lose.

"He has been so successful for so long, that doing something different is a bit of a stretch for him and the character.

"He wasn't sure. He had to get to know me. He had to wrap his head around it and I respect that."

Marvel tweeted that Ryan Coogler will direct Black Panther.

Directing Black Panther is a step away from Ryan's previous films, but he says he isn't worried about that.

"I have not made a movie with the Marvel guys yet, but I have had a chance to sit down with them to talk about what the story means to me as a filmmaker, as an artist and as a person and I'm really excited to get to work with them," he says.

"Filmmaking is an interesting thing. When you are working with a studio who is putting up that much capital for a project, it is give and take. There won't be any diluting going on, it's a collaboration."

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