What Hollywood Should Take Away from the Success of Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’

Sinners is the latest box office smash following A Minecraft Movie's dominance at the multiplex just last month. The difference, of course, is that one of these movies is completely original and genuinely well-made. While Minecraft follows the widespread and exhausting trend of adapting recognizable intellectual property (IP) to the big screen, Sinners is somewhat of an anomaly.

Ryan Coogler's fifth feature, which has grossed over $168 million in just two weeks against a $90 million production budget, is a dizzying vampire film that has managed to earn both critical and commercial success—a rare feat in the age of Minecraft and oversaturated IP adaptations.

What's remarkable about the success of Sinners is how much it goes against the common belief among studio executives that IP adaptations with enormous budgets are the only ways to get people to turn off Netflix and come to the movie theater. If anything, Sinners resembles an old-fashioned Hollywood hit, both in the way that it was made and in the way that it was packaged—a respected auteur with proven mainstream appeal, a true movie star turn from Michael B. Jordan, and audience word-of-mouth demanding that the film needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Sure, Minecraft was a hit but after the underperformance of the latest Captain America film and the debacle that was Disney's Snow White remake, clearly IP is not all it takes. If the box-office performance of Sinners is an indicator of anything, it's that investing in great directors with strong concepts is still a reliable recipe for success.

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Breaking Down the Success of Sinners

Before Sinners premiered, Ryan Coogler was already making headlines for a landmark deal he made with Warner Bros. In his contract negotiation with the studio, Coogler successfully advocated for his family’s total ownership of the rights to Sinners after 25 years—a rare accomplishment similar to the plight musicians consistently have with their record labels over owning the rights to their own master recordings. How was Coogler able to pull this off when studios these days are notoriously not the most creative filmmaker-friendly?

Well, the director’s proven track record at the box office certainly helped him in his negotiations. This is, after all, the mastermind behind the Creed and Black Panther franchises. Although the 38-year-old only had four features under his belt prior to making this deal, three of them were box-office hits, two were critical darlings, and one earned Marvel its first and only Best Picture nomination. Coogler quickly became one of those rare directors to bring gravitas to IP projects with his previous three films, playing the Hollywood game without sacrificing artistic integrity in the process. Now with his return to an original concept, he was able to use more leverage than ever.

In the weeks leading up to the opening of Sinners, reports regarding Coogler’s big deal were rumored to have spooked executives. After the film’s over-performance in its opening weekend, Variety received backlash for expressing doubts about its long-term success. They even quickly tried to rectify their own reporting, as movie lovers online (including celebrities like Ben Stiller) were quick to call the publication out over this problematic skepticism.

However, after its second week, it became crystal clear that the opening weekend of Sinners was no fluke. The second weekend box office showed only a 6% drop in performance, which is nearly unheard of and not just in post-2020 times. For context, the average film’s second weekend drop at the box office is around 40-50%. If these numbers continue, Coogler’s deal may prove to be a massive success for his family down the road—based on the end credits scene alone, a sequel is almost assured.

So how did a piece of non-intellectual property have such an incredible hold at the box office in its second week? Strong reviews from both audiences and critics certainly helped. Coogler’s film currently holds a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Furthermore, after its opening weekend, Sinners became the first horror movie in 35 years to earn an A CinemaScore, a great indicator for a strong theatrical run.

Having seen the film, I can confirm that it’s an old-fashioned Hollywood hit. Even with its horror elements that might initially be unappealing to some folks, the film is a crowd-pleaser with a charismatic lead performance by Michael B. Jordan. A frequent collaborator of Coogler’s, Jordan has time and time again proven to have strong box office potential. In fact, after Sinners, he and Coogler should never be doubted again, regardless of whether or not they’re involved in IP or original material.

Coogler knows how to please general audiences and cinephiles in a way that is highly reminiscent of the success of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Sure, neither of those films were completely original like this one is, but both were successful in large part because of the enthusiasm for what these two auteurs were going to do with the material. It wasn’t just IP that led to the success of those films; it was the visions of their directors.

The Real Takeaways from Sinners

As much as I would like to argue that IP is not all the rage, I cannot deny that the success of Minecraft is further proof that some popular pre-existing material translates well to film (at least in terms of its appeal… not so much in terms of quality). However, there will always be a path for original material to break through the noise and generate widespread buzz.

Warner Bros gambled on another critically acclaimed director earlier this year, but that film (Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17) significantly underperformed at the box office. Thankfully, the success of Sinners prevents studio executives from claiming that audiences don’t want auteur-driven projects. The difference is that while Mickey 17 has great moments, critics and audiences seemed to agree that the raw material—the script itself—needed work.

On the other hand, Sinners has a nearly flawless script. It’s a strong concept that finds a healthy balance between luxuriating in a unique artistic vision while taking care of its audience. Even with its profound social message about the intersection of music and identity, Sinners never condescends and it remains a fun ride at the movies throughout its runtime.

So for any studio executives who are still trying to wrap their heads around Ryan Coogler’s big win at the box office, the takeaway is actually simple and not groundbreaking at all. Regardless of whether or not a film is original or IP, nothing beats a great script and a strong vision.