March 01, 2023
Provided Image/Bryn Mawr Film Institute/'Rocky'
Pluto TV has created a 24-hour channel that is playing the six 'Rocky' movies on a loop. The free streaming service also allows users to watch the movies on demand. 'Creed III,' the latest installation in the spinoff series, premieres Friday.
This week has much to offer for fans of the "Rocky" franchise and its spinoff, "Creed."
"Creed III" hits theaters Friday. And Pluto TV, Paramount's free streaming platform, has begun playing the "Rocky" movies on a loop on a new channel dedicated solely to the series created by Sylvester Stallone.
The channel, Pluto TV Rocky, began streaming the six "Rocky" films in order Wednesday, but Pluto TV also allows viewers to play each of the movies on demand. An account is not required.
The first two "Creed" films are not available on the streaming platform, but they can be streamed via Sling TV and Amazon Prime Video.
The 24-hour "Rocky" channel only will be available for a limited time, but Paramount has not said when the "Rocky" collection will be removed from Pluto TV. In the meantime, fans can rewatch their favorite moments from the "Rocky" series before the latest "Creed" installment moves the saga in a different direction.
To access 'Pluto TV Rocky,' just log on to Pluto TV online or using a smartphone or TV app and search for the collection. The first six films will play on a loop 24/7, and fans can watch for free without a subscription.
The "Rocky" franchise began in 1976 with a film that won three Academy Awards, including best picture. The first movie follows Rocky Balboa, a scrap-fighting boxer from Kensington as he gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the world heavyweight championship, fighting against undisputed champion Apollo Creed.
Stallone wrote the screenplays for each of the "Rocky" movies. "Rocky Balboa," released in 2006, initially was meant to be the end of the franchise. It depicted an aging Balboa who accepts a challenge to fight the world's reigning heavyweight boxer, Mason Dixon. But in 2013, the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer approached Ryan Coogler to develop a spinoff to the "Rocky" franchise, and the first "Creed" movie was released two years later.
"Creed" follows Adonis "Donnie" Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan. Creed, an amateur boxer and the son of Apollo Creed, visits Balboa in Philadelphia and asks the retired boxer to train him. In the movie's 2018 sequel, Creed gears up to fight Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, who killed his father in the ring at the beginning of "Rocky IV."
Brothers turn enemies. Watch the final trailer for #Creed3 now, starring Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors, and Tessa Thompson. See the film only in theaters March 3. pic.twitter.com/h7Xo3UWyhW
— #CREED3 (@creedmovie) February 15, 2023
Jordan made his directorial debut with "Creed III." The movie has Creed is at top of the world in his professional and personal lives – until he runs into former childhood friend Damien "Dame" Anderson, portrayed by Jonathan Majors. Anderson has been released from prison and is looking to gain his own boxing glory, which leads them to a matchup in the ring.
Stallone is absent from "Creed III," which has called a "regretful situation." Stallone is listed as a producer on "Creed III," but he has said producer Irwin Winkler and Jordan have taken the series "in a direction that is quite different than I would've taken it."
"My job is to focus on the work, the story, the character, all these things that are in play, and not take any of this other stuff personally," Jordan told the Los Angeles Times regarding Stallone's absence. "There's nothing but love and opportunity. If and when Stallone wants to be a part of this, publicly or privately, I'll always be here with open arms and a warm smile, like it's always been."
