Score another win for Ryan Coogler when he teams up with Michael B. Jordan. Their latest film Sinners made a powerful entrance at the box office, pulling in $45.6 million domestically during its debut weekend. The film, a dark and stylish vampire thriller set in the 1930s, marks the strongest R-rated opening since Jordan Peele’s Us premiered in 2019.
As reported by Variety, Sinners earned its impressive total from 3,308 theaters across North America. On the international front, it added another $15.4 million, bringing the worldwide earnings to approximately $61 million after its first weekend.
The film follows twin brothers, Smoke and Stack—both portrayed by Michael B. Jordan—as they attempt to escape their troubled past and return to their roots in Mississippi. But their homecoming takes a sinister turn as they encounter a deeper, more dangerous evil.
Joining Jordan in the ensemble cast are Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Wunmi Mosaku.
Beyond its supernatural premise, Sinners serves as a cultural exploration of the Blues and its origins in the Mississippi Delta, spotlighting the genre’s roots and the lives of the Black musicians who shaped it.
“The film is a study in the blues,” Coogler shared with The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I feel that this is America’s most significant contribution to world popular culture. It all started right there in Mississippi. When you delve deeper into it, you’ll discover a lot of spiritual and supernatural elements.”
He went on to explain, “The musicians are playing songs about enduring demon torment and making agreements with malevolent deities. I also learned that church members judged the relationship, which was fascinating. Many of the most significant musicians emerged from the church.”
Coogler emphasized his interest in portraying the layered complexity of the community: “I wanted to show the ‘duality’ of the people ‘going to church on Sunday or in a nightclub hours before on a Saturday night.’” He added, “I wanted to investigate and convey that dichotomy, as well as the link to the continent and what storytelling and musical storytelling meant to us there.”