Sinners!

Ryan Coogler's horror film Sinners broke a record. It has 16 Oscar nominations. It has a high possibility of winning at least one. 

I have not been at a movie theater since movie director Ryan Coolger's film Black Panther. The Marvel film went on to gross over $3.2 billion in sales and helped the late actor Chadwick Bowman become an icon. It also helped Michael B. Jordan become a household name.

Coogler was often passed over for Oscar nominations finally got a well deserved paid due.

His most recent film, Sinners is nominated for 16 Academy Awards.

Sinners is a 2025 American horror film produced, written, and directed by Ryan Coogler. Set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, the film stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as criminal twin brothers who return to their hometown in the Jim Crow South, where they are confronted by a supernatural evil. It co-stars Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton (in his film debut), Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, and Delroy Lindo.

Coogler began developing the film through his production company Proximity Media, with Jordan cast in the lead role. The project was announced in January 2024, and after a bidding war, Warner Bros. Pictures acquired distribution rights the following month. Additional roles were cast in April. Principal photography took place from April to July 2024. Longtime Coogler collaborator Ludwig Göransson composed the film's score and served as an executive producer.

Sinners premiered on April 3, 2025, at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City, and was theatrically released in United States on April 18, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures. 

The film received critical acclaim and grossed $368.3 million worldwide against a budget of $90–100 million. In addition to this, the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute listed it among the top ten films of 2025. Sinners garnered several awards and nominations, including a record 16 nominations at the 98th Academy Awards. It also earned four wins at the 31st Critics' Choice Awards, two wins at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards (including Cinematic and Box Office Achievement) and five nominations at the 32nd Actor Awards (including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture).

This move on a nearly $100 million budget has taken in over $375 million.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are nominated for the Academy Awards. Both are actors and directors.

A coronation for Coogler

For Coogler, the 39-year-old filmmaker of “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther,” it was a crowning moment. One of Hollywood’s most esteemed yet humble filmmakers, Coogler has called “Sinners” — a film that he will own outright 25 years after its release — his most personal movie.

“I wrote this script for my uncle who passed away 11 years ago,” Coogler said in an interview Thursday morning. “I got to imagine that he’s listening to some blues music right now to celebrate.”

Reached by phone an hour after the nominations were read, Coogler — speaking alongside his wife and producer Zinzi Coogler and producer Sev Ohanian — was still trying to process the movie’s record-breaking haul.

“I love making movies. I’m honored to wake up every day and do it. I was writing last night. That’s why I didn’t get too much sleep,” said Coogler, chuckling. “Honestly, bro, I still feel a little bit asleep right now.”