We are pleased to share with you the first trailer for MGM's Creed III. The third installment of the CREED franchise is the directorial debut of Michael B. Jordan. He is joined by a diverse cast including Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors, Selenis Leyva, Wood Harris, Florian Munteanu, Mila Davis-Kent, Phylicia Rashad, and legendary boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in his film debut.

After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.

Entertainment Affair recently joined Jordan for a virtual press conference, prior to the trailer’s worldwide release, to talk about the film and his debut as a director. Check out a few highlights of the event below.

On what made him decide to have Creed III be his directorial debut

“I think, for me, it was the perfect time,” Jordan said. “I think growing up on set, in the industry over 20 years, I finally got to this place in my career where I wanted to tell a story and not just be in front of the camera, not just execute somebody else’s vision.”

Jordan had been thinking about being behind the camera for a while

“I've been blessed to work with a lot of incredible directors and have a lot of guidance and mentors and people that I look up to and inspire to kind of be on that storytelling level,” said Jordan. “And I've been quietly watching and putting together these decks and folders and things that I want to try for quite some time now. So I was just kind of waiting for the right opportunity to step up and get behind the camera. [Creed III] was the one for me.”

He discussed the challenge of directing himself while also acting 

“I’m a little sick. I must have a problem because it’s lowkey torture, but at the same time, it’s so much fun,” Jordan joked. “The challenge of accomplishing it all, the multitasking nature of it to develop story, try to stay in shape and give all the departments what they individually need and then have my process as Adonis, it’s really hard to put into words. Every day was a struggle but it was the team of people who were around me — you have to surround yourself with people you trust so you can focus on what you need to focus on, and sometimes that is doing two things at one time. Three things at one time.”

Ryan Coogler and Denzel Washington helped Jordan work up the courage to dive into directing

“I was talking to Ryan Coogler back when we were doing Creed. He was just like, 'It's never the right time. You just gotta jump in the deep end and go for it,'" Jordan said. "So it just felt like it was the right time for me."

"Talking to a lot of directors that have been through this before really gave me a good idea of what these experiences were going to be," Jordan said. "So I leaned on those conversations and that advice. I just got finished working with Denzel [Washington] right before this project. So I had that wisdom and support that was there. It really helped me out a lot during prep, taking it a day at a time but also always planning 10 steps ahead."

The film hits theaters on March 3, 2023.