Before Ryan Coogler’s Sinners was released into the world, he was not thinking of it as the start of a franchise. In an interview published three days prior to the film’s release, the writer and director made that abundantly clear.
“I never think about [sequels],” Coogler said to Ebony Magazine. “I’ve been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that. I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me and had an appetite for delivering something to audiences that was original and unique. I wanted the movie to feel like a full meal: your appetizers, starters, entrees and desserts, I wanted all of it there. I wanted it to be a holistic and finished thing. That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention.”
Those quotes have been making the rounds in recent days and rightfully so. Since that article was published, Sinners went on to become a certified, and maybe even surprising, smash hit. It has grossed over $265 million domestically and another $80 million plus internationally. That, coming on a budget that was reportedly less than $100 million, is proof that audiences love this movie and could want more. It’s something that wasn’t for certain before release, so any direct quotes from Coogler himself about sequels would certainly be of interest.
Coogler himself clearly knew that might be the case too. In a widely publicized deal he made for Sinners, the filmmaker gets the full rights to the film back to himself 25 years after release. Usually, studios keep those rights, but Coogler gets his back. Would he have made that a point of contention if he didn’t think Sinners had a life beyond just this one film? Hypothetically, sure, because movies can make money forever, but there was certainly an impetus to own and control his own creation in some way as well. It’s a confident move.
Plus, don’t forget, Coogler also added a mid-credits scene in his film that showed two of his main characters, immortal vampires played by Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld, decades after the events in the movie. On the one hand, it works as an acknowledgement that these characters will forever be out there. On the other hand, it also could be a tease of future stories to come.
So, yes. Before the release of Sinners, Ryan Coogler certainly said that he wasn’t thinking about making a sequel. But that was before the film was a huge success. Maybe that thinking has changed a bit.
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