The cast of “Creed II” films in Hagan Arena.
Rebecca Barus ’19 co-wrote this story.
Scenes from the upcoming installment of the “Rocky” franchise, “Creed II,” were filmed at St. Joe’s in Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena on Tuesday, May 29.
“Creed II” is the sequel to “Creed,” part of which was also shot in Philadelphia during its production in 2015. Filming for the movie took place in the Maguire pool during a one-day event, with both Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone on campus.
Conor Lesch, assistant director of Campus Recreation, was the liaison between St. Joe’s and the production team during the months of scouting and negotiation.
“The location crew was scouting different areas,” Lesch said. “Of the 30 plus pools they looked at, they just had to have St. Joe’s.”
On filming day, Lesch said that the crew worked a total of 18 hours, with only about five hours of shooting to finish the scene. On May 30, the crew packed up and left campus.
“There were times when they were working on whatever, you’re sort of just stuck wherever you’re at the next five to 10 minutes until they stop rolling,” Lesch said. “I’d say 99 percent of the time, they weren’t even rolling. It was a lot of production and a lot of crew for a few shots.”
Despite the long day on set, Lesch said the production went smoothly, and the experience was worth the hard work.
“It was cool to be a part of production, because if you were stuck on set, you got to see the film, and you got to see Michael B. Jordan, and you got to see how it all was made,” Lesch said.
Jordan, who plays the lead role of Adonis Creed, shot a scene in the pool area of Hagan, which served as the scene’s set. His presence on campus attracted some students to try to see what was happening.
“There was a ton of people working on set, and cameras going in the pool area, but we were told to leave, so I didn’t get to see much,” Veronica Wilson ’20 said.
While Wilson could only look while passing by Hagan, she said she caught a glimpse of Jordan outside the building.
Charlie Concannon ’19, a baseball player at St. Joe’s, had access to Hagan and saw Jordan walking around near the men’s locker room.
“I thought that was pretty cool,” Concannon said. “Everyone loves Michael B. Jordan.”
Although St. Joe’s will play a small role in the film, Lesch encouraged the community to look out for the cameo.
“The shots that I saw were incredible shots, so I think if the St. Joe’s students will be able to watch the movie and identify the pool, it’ll be a pretty cool experience,” Lesch said.
