Even if the ‘Black Panther’ movies did nothing for me, I can’t deny Ryan Coogler’s directorial talents, Coogler directed the hell out of 2015’s “Creed” and he’s now back to original storytelling, for the first time since 2013’s “Fruitvale Station,” with “Sinners.”
However, hold up. Coogler has franchise aspirations for “Sinners,” he wants to turn it into an IP, which means this will be a very stint in non-IP filmmaking for him, unless “Sinners,” set for release in March 2025, turns out to be a box office bomb.
Here’s the official synopsis:
From Ryan Coogler—director of “Black Panther” and “Creed”—and starring Michael B. Jordan comes a new vision of fear: “Sinners.” Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. “You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”
As you can see, they are not revealing too much, if anything, about the plot. We gather that it’s set in 1920s Jim Crow south, and that vampires and the KKK are involved in the story. There are twins, played by Jordan, and one of them turns into a bloodsucker. Rumor is that Jack O’Connell plays the “racist” villain in the film.
“Sinners,” which wrapped production in early summer, is set to hit theaters on March 7, 2025. This is one hot project that sparked a bidding war in February and had Warner Bros finally landing the rights. The budget for the film is said to be around $90M.
UPDATE: We have plot details, courtesy of The Wrap, and it’s more or less parallels what I had previously reported on …
In “Sinners,” Jordan plays twin vampire brothers who return to their hometown in an attempt to start over. Once there, they discover something even more evil has taken root – the Ku Klux Klan (Jack O’Connell plays the evil racist baddie). The movie is set in 1930s Jim Crow South, with production taking place in New Orleans earlier this year — but this being a Coogler film, it’s filled with the kind of rich detail that brings history to life. And the concept both feels fun and cool while also rich enough to investigate what is going on in our current cultural landscape.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.