‘Creed III’ steps into the ring and KOs ‘Quantumania’ at the box office

The tally for the movie so far is a best ever for the franchise, hovering around $51.1 million after a hot $22 million take on Friday, per Deadline. The movie, which is the biggest premiere ever for an Amazon movie (it acquired MGM recently), continues to vacuum up ticket sales as the weekend progresses.

Creed III has already bested the two previous entries in the franchise, and both of those had five-day Thanksgiving launch windows. Creed came out in 2015 and grossed $29.6 million in its opening days; Creed II came out three years later and pulled in $33.5 million.

It doesn’t hurt that movie not only has one of the hottest stars on the planet right now with Majors as the movie’s antagonist, but great Rotten Tomatoes scores as well. The movie’s hovering around 96 percent audience score and received an A- Cinemascore.

Critics love the movie as well, and it received an 87 percent Tomatometer score. Obie Henderson, a film critic from the Boston Globe, said it’s a movie that “despite being underwritten at crucial points, is better than any third entry in a franchise has a right to be.”

In addition to being the third movie in the franchise, it’s the first movie directed by star Michael B. Jordan, who also received rave reviews for his subtle touch behind the camera. Jordan said he felt invigorated taking his place behind the camera.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do so far,” Jordan said, per UPI. “But at the same time, I felt the most alive doing it, so it was rewarding.”

Creed III is playing in theaters everywhere now.