Russell Hornsby, last seen on the big screen in the Denzel Washington-directed Oscar-nominated film, Fences, has been cast in Warner Bros/MGM’s Creed II, starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, reprising their roles of Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa respectively. Production is officially underway with director Steven Caple Jr. at the helm and Ryan Coogler, who directed the first film, serving as an executive producer. The film continues to follow Adonis who is facing an opponent with ties to his family’s past which intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what’s worth fighting for, and discover that nothing’s more important than family. Also new to the rebooted franchise are previously announced Florian “The Big Nasty” Munteanu as Viktor Drago and Dolph Lundgren returning to the role of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV. Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Wood Harris, and Andre Ward will also reprise their roles from the first Creed. Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Kevin King-Templeton, and Stallone are producing the pic with Jordan and Guy Riedel joining Coogler in the executive producer post. The film is out November 21. Hornsby, who co-stars in Fox’s upcoming crime drama, The Hate U Give, is repped by ICM, Cohn Torgan Management, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.

Courtesy of Ascend PR Group

Actor and digital star Melvin Gregg is set to appear in Steven Soderbergh’s iPhone-shot drama High Flying Bird, written by Oscar-winning Moonlight scribe Tarell Alvin McCraney. André Holland (Moonlight) and Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) star in the film that explores the journey of a rookie basketball player and a controversial business opportunity presented during a lockout. Producers are Joseph Malloch, Ken Meyer, and Soderbergh. Gregg, best known for producing sketches for Vine and Instagram, currently stars on Lifetime’s UnREAL and will co-star in season 2 of Netflix’s American Vandals. He’s repped by Untitled and CAA.