‘Sinners’ Lures Audiences to the Box Office With Bloody Good Opening Weekend Projections
Director Ryan Coogler fulfilled his obligations by directing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever for Marvel and Disney a couple of years ago. The movie emerged as one of the franchise’s rare commercial hits at a time when its grip over the box office appeared to be slipping. This week, Coogler is set to release Sinners, his first original film since his debut feature, Fruitvale Station. Warner Bros. appears to have tremendous faith in the movie, having lifted the embargo on reviews unusually early. The ecstatic reception is expected to translate into tremendous results at the box office this weekend, with the movie eying $45 million across its first three days of release domestically.
Original movies rarely open to these numbers, but this is an indication of the goodwill Coogler has built up over the years, having delivered banger after banger. Sinners debuted with a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, which has now fallen to a still-excellent 97%. Not too many movies are able to maintain 100% scores, especially movies this size. Sinners reunites Coogler with star Michael B. Jordan; they worked together not only on Fruitvale Station, but also Creed and the two Black Panther movies. Jordan plays dual roles in the horror film, alongside a cast that includes Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, and Wunmi Musaku.
In her review for Collider, Emma Kiely wrote, “Sinners is an electric film sparkling with energy and passion. Coogler takes everything he has honed over the past 10 years and crafts a spectacle hoisted up by exceptional visual storytelling. The focus here is action and imagery, so the weaker character development and script than his past films can be forgiven.” The movie reunites Coogler with his Wakanda Forever cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who partially shot Sinners on IMAX film cameras. W.B. is giving the movie the sort of release that would normally be afforded to a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan or Denis Villeneuve.
Warner Bros. Will Claim the Top Two Spots this Weekend
Sinners will be screened in IMAX 70mm at select locations. Produced on a reported budget of around $100 million, the movie will compete on Easter weekend with faith-based offerings such as The King of Kings and The Chosen: Last Supper trilogy. It’ll also have to contend with holdover hit A Minecraft Movie, which turned the narrative around for Warner Bros. after a difficult start to the year. You can watch this movie in theaters beginning Friday, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
