Director Ryan Coogler‘s latest hit, Sinners, is, without question, hitting out of the park at the box office. The R-rated horror film opened to $60 million on Easter weekend. Coming out of its second weekend in theaters, Sinners saw an impressive 6% drop between weekends, the smallest drop of any film opening to more than $40 million since Avatar in 2009 and any R-rated film.
Despite the film’s success, how it’s being discussed amongst some film journalists regarding its performance reeks of belittlement. A mere two days after the film’s release, Variety dropped an article in which they surmised the film’s opening weekend success with, “It’s a great result for an original, R-rated horror film, yet the Warner Bros. release has a $90 million price tag before global marketing expenses, so profitability remains a ways away.” Rightfully so, readers saw this comment as downplaying the success of the film. Actor Ben Stiller, amongst other X users, criticized the narrative the article was trying to spin.
In a similar fashion, The New York Times also appeared to minimize the film’s achievement during its opening weekend in an article named “‘Sinners’ Is A Box Office Success (With a Big Asterisk).” The asterisking of the film’s financial success was yet another example of critics moving the goalpost for Black art. A wholly original horror film, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon through outstanding reviews and word of mouth, should be a celebration of the state of cinema moving back in the right direction, but was instead met with speculation.
The response has brought into question whether or not Coogler’s deal with Warner Bros. had anything to do with the way the box office numbers are being reported on. The deal ensures that Coogler retains the rights to Sinners after 25 years, meaning that Coogler could receive royalties from streaming and TV broadcasts for the film, where that money would have gone to the studio originally. On opening day, Vuluture dropped an article citing this deal as a “dangerous” decision that would topple the studio system as we know it, but maybe the current functioning of the studio system should be challenged.
Coogler was inspired by his own film to fight for the rights to it. Sinners, which follows twin brothers, in a dual role by Michael B. Jordan, who fight for their ownership of a juke joint in 1932 Mississippi, is a celebration of Black artistry and highlights the importance of protecting that. In the film, vampires are brilliantly used as a vehicle to convey this message as they infiltrate the juke joint and attempt to feed off of that artistry under the illusion of community and freedom.
The insinuation that Coogler owning the rights to his creative work is a bad thing is deeply ironic given the themes of the film. Where simply being able to create was once all one could ask for, true creative freedom must include ownership.
There’s power in taking ownership of what you’ve created, and the deal will be very impactful in the future of the creation of original films. Hopefully, studios will take from this that original stories are worth investing in and are crucial to sustaining cinema. Sinners is a prime example of original, high-quality, thematically rich films in a sea of sequels, adaptations, and reboots that audiences have been craving and should be discussed as such.
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