Ryan Coogler’s Hit Is Now the Biggest Original Hollywood Movie Since Christopher Nolan’s 2010 Masterpiece
In a year filled with superhero sequels and reboots, Sinners is doing something rare: it’s an original film that’s completely dominating the box office.
Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, the horror movie has pulled in over $361 million worldwide. Of that, a huge $275.7 million has come from theaters in the U.S. alone. According to Warner Bros., that makes it the most successful original horror movie in U.S. box office history. It just passed Jaws, which held the title for decades.
Even when you include global numbers, Sinners still lands at number one for original horror films. All the movies ahead of it like It, The Nun, and The Exorcist are based on existing books or part of other franchises. Sinners is totally new.
And it’s not just horror fans turning out. The film had one of the strongest openings for any original movie since 2019.
It made $48 million in its first weekend, and it just kept going. It dropped only 4.9% in its second weekend, which is almost unheard of. Only Avatar and Shrek had better holds for movies that opened above $40 million.
In its third weekend, Sinners brought in another $33 million. That’s the best third weekend ever for a horror film, even beating It. By the fourth weekend, it had crossed $200 million in the U.S., something no original movie had done since Coco back in 2017.
The film now sits at number two for highest-grossing original movies released since 2010, just behind Inception. It has passed major titles like Interstellar, Get Out, and Gravity. What’s even more impressive is that nearly half its opening weekend revenue came from premium screens like IMAX, really rare for a horror title.
On top of all that, Sinners got an “A” from CinemaScore, something that almost never happens with horror. According to CinemaScore, it’s the first horror film to earn that grade in 35 years. PostTrak says 92% of people gave it a positive review and 84% said they’d definitely recommend it.
Critics also loved it. Rolling Stone’s A.A. Dowd said Coogler was “swinging wide and far beyond the boundaries of franchise fare.” The Observer said, “Coogler’s assurance and vision holds everything together.” And The Washington Post praised his “impressive self-awareness.”
Michael B. Jordan got high marks, too, especially for playing twin brothers. Some critics, like The Wall Street Journal‘s Zachary Barnes, felt the story lost focus later on, but he still called Jordan’s performance strong.
The movie takes place in 1932 Mississippi and follows two identical twins, Smoke and Stack Moore, who return home after working for gangsters in Chicago. They use stolen money to buy a sawmill and turn it into a juke joint for the local Black community. But they soon run into something much darker than old enemies—a supernatural evil that threatens everything.
Their cousin Sammie, who dreams of being a blues guitarist, joins them despite warnings from his father, a pastor who believes the music is dangerous. The film blends music, horror, and Southern Gothic vibes into something totally unique.
The cast includes Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo, who has a powerful moment in one of the deleted scenes recently released online.
Coogler started working on the project in early 2024 with his production company, Proximity Media. Michael B. Jordan signed on right away. After a bidding war, Warner Bros. picked it up and began filming that spring. Göransson also served as an executive producer.
Critics have compared the movie to Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, though Coogler said he was more inspired by The Faculty. Either way, Sinners stands on its own.
ABC News critic Peter Travers called it the best film of 2025 so far, saying it’s Coogler and Jordan’s “best and most daring work yet.”
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