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Coogler said Creed -- which is set to star Fruitvale star Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, who was Oscar nominated for the first Rocky film -- focuses on the boxer's family and where they are now, years on from Creed's highs and lows in the ring opposite Stallone's Rocky Balboa character.

Coogler said: "It brings us up to date with where his family is now."

The filmmaker had taken the idea to write a movie based around the Rocky franchise to MGM before Fruitvale Station got up and running.

"It was an idea I took to them and met with [Sylvester] Stallone for his blessing," Coogler said. "It's a universal story about family, so I hope it'll fly."

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Coogler got positive noises from MGM and Stallone on Creed just as he was going into production on Fruitvale, so has had to wait until now to concentrate his efforts on the project.

Fruitvale details the true story of a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who winds up involved in a vicious police incident on New Year's Day in 2009.

It has garnered positive notices and pushed the filmmaker, from the Bay area himself, into Hollywood's consciousness.