Creed 3 Is Causing Actual Fights To Break Out In Theaters
Creed 3's fight scenes are so well-executed multiple brawls have broken out across Europe, forcing screenings to be canceled and police to intervene.
When going to the movie theater, it’s expected that you’ll have to deal with large crowds, people on their phones, and a seemingly endless parade of previews. A new report from Deadline adds to the list of concerns, thanks to the adrenaline-pumping fight scenes in Creed 3 causing actual fistfights to break out in the audience. Michael B Jordan wants fans to get sucked into the world of Adonis Creed, but multiple reports in Europe of fights make it seem like he did his job a little too well.
The largest brawl resulted in a crowd of 500 people evacuating a theater in Thionville, a town in northern France. Footage of the incident exploded on social media throughout Europe, with the screening canceled following the fight. Another screening in Charleville-Mézières was abandoned following a smaller fight that resulted in a pair of arrests.
A dozen disturbances were reported in France alone over the weekend connected to fights at showings of Creed 3. The issue has become so bad for movie theaters that a small nine-screen complex has removed the film, citing “inappropriate behavior.” Movies are taken down and not shown at theaters all the time for various reasons; a big-budget Hollywood production is rarely removed because it causes fights.
France isn’t the only country with an outbreak of brawls, as three cities in Germany also reported fighting. Bremen, Hamburg, and Essen had to cancel showings following fights, resulting in the police arriving to break it up. There doesn’t appear to be any coordinated effort or social media challenge that would spur on the behavior, and it’s a series of unrelated isolated incidents.
Creed 3 had the largest opening weekend for the franchise, with France contributing $7.7 million and Germany $4.3 million, easily breaking the last film’s international box office total. Out of 10,000 screenings of the film, only a dozen resulted in brawls, which is still highly unusual. England and Italy, the other two large markets showing the film, have reported no fights in theaters resulting in the arrival of law enforcement.
No major fights have been reported in the United States except for Jonathan Majors knocking out his other franchise film, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, from the top spot at the box office. The actor stars as the villain in both films and is receiving praise for both performances and achieved the rare feat of being in different number-one films for consecutive weeks. The third Creed movie has earned over $100 million worldwide while the third Ant-Man is north of $420 million, but after budget and marketing are taken into account, the boxing film has been the larger success.
Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors have talked about working together again on more projects, and given how well their first collaboration has gone, that’s great news for movie fans. Majors can next be seen as a Kang variant (or two…or three) in Loki Season 2 this summer while Jordan is looking into directing an adaptation of Dragon Ball Z.
