Summary
Didn’t think a vampire could dominate the box office since theTwilight Sagaended years ago? Think again! Ryan Coogler’sSinnersdebuted in sync with previous predictions, topping the U.S. box office’s Easter holiday and breaking R-rated horror records in the process.
Warner Bros.’Sinnersis an R-rated vampirehorror-thriller directed by Coogler and starsMichael B. Jordan—in a dual roleas twin brothers Smoke and Stack—Hailee Steinfeld,Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Li Jun Li, and Wunmi Mosaku. Set in the 1930s American South, the film follows the brothers who return home to establish a juke joint only for their community to be blindsided by a terrifying vampire invasion. Critics and audiences alike approve ofSinners, giving it a 98% average on Rotten Tomatoes and an A on Cinemascore while bathing it with good word of mouth. Reviews have called it a thematically rich, visually stunning vampire tale, with standout performances, a hauntingly immersive blues score by Ludwig Göransson, and Coogler’s masterful direction for good measure.
Sinners' Opening Weekend Broke Records For An Original Horror Film
It Also OustedA Minecraft MovieFrom the Top Spot
Industry analysts were cautious with their projections onSinners, estimating a $35 - $45 million three-day domestic debut and $15 - $20 million overseas, even as the movie’s pre-sales stood shoulder to shoulder withBad Boys: Ride or DieandCreed 3. And indeed, its domestic opening sat on the higher end. PerBox Office MojoandDeadlinedata,Sinnersopened with $45.6 million in North America and $15.6 million from 71 overseas markets. Not only was this enough to oustA Minecraft Movie($41.3 million) as the highest-grossing movie of the weekend at the U.S. box office, it also granted the Coogler film the second-strongest domestic debut for an original horror film, narrowly beatingJordan Peele’sNope($44.4 million). Peele still tops the bunch withUS, which opened with $70.3 million in 2019.
As the fifth Coogler-Jordan combo,Sinnerswas always guaranteed to move mouths and be commercially viable, as history has proven.Fruitvale Stationgrossed $17.4 million in 2013 on a $900,000 production budget;Creedtook in $173.6 million in 2015, costing $40 million to make; andbothBlack Panthermoviescollectively grossed more than $2.1 billion. Add to this an unprecedented A on Cinemascore for an R-rated horror — aboveA Quiet Place,Five Nights At Freddy’s, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,Get Out,Nope, andM3gan— and the stars couldn’t align any better for stakeholders.
Be that as it may, at $61 million globally on a $90 million price tag, the job is just half done…or two-thirds to be precise. Hollywood mathematics dictate thatSinnerswould have to finish with at least $180 million to break even. It’s not the ride-in-the-park that some want to make it seem, though. In the coming weeks,Sinnerswill have to share the spoils withA Minecraft Movie,already on a pathway to billion-dollar glorywith its current three-week tally of $720 million, and a Marvel tentpole inThunderbolts*. Plus, unless it’s a major franchise, horror films tend to perform modestly overseas, so don’t count on them to do the heavy-lifting.
It won’t be until next weekend, when second-weekend drop-offs come into view, that a clearer picture ofSinners' box office legs can be drawn. Until then, the prevailing assumption is that the film is poised to be a profitable venture for Warner Bros.
