Sylvester Stallone to direct 'Creed II'

Rocky himself will return to the director's chair for the followup to 2015's Creed.

Sylvester Stallone announced via Instagram this week that he would direct and produce Creed II, writing that he is "looking forward" to directing "the incredibly talented Michael B Jordan" next year.

As fans may know, Sly wrote the first six Rocky films and directed four of them; the last was 2006's Rocky Balboa.

While Stallone announced that he would direct the movie, he did not indicate who would write the sequel, although he did tease an Adonis/Ivan Drago showdown on Instagram earlier this year (this, of course, would be significant because Drago killed Adonis' father in Rocky IV). He also did not say if Creed director Ryan Coogler, who is currently working on Marvel's Black Panther, would be involved.

A sequel to Creed does seem inevitable. With its release in 2015, Creed earned more than $173 million worldwide at the box office. Not bad, considering the film's $35 million budget. It also garnered Stallone his first Oscar nod since 1976, when he was nominated for best actor and best screenplay for his roles in Rocky.

Creed filmed in Philadelphia early in 2015. No word yet on whether Creed II will grace our fair burg, but Stallone, who lived in Philadelphia as a teenager, is a well-known fan of the city.