
‘Sinners’ Was Meant To Be A Box-Office Hit. Stop Counting It Out.
HuffPost
Film critics downplaying Ryan Coogler’s No. 1 vampire blockbuster are now eating their words.
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They say the best revenge is success, and in the case of “Sinners,” the vampire flick seems to be out for blood from every doubter who didn’t think it could prevail at the box office.
By doubters, I mean the trade publications that gave Ryan Coogler’s Southern horror juggernaut a modest estimate for its first weekend in theaters. Even after touting a dual performance from A-lister Michael B. Jordan, an all-star ensemble cast, IMAX camera work and a wholly original film concept from in-demand director Coogler, the trades and some tracking services still projected that the R-rated movie would, at most, garner $40 to $50 million for its Easter weekend opening.
“Sinners” quickly surpassed expectations, with Monday reports noting its impressive $63 million global box office debut as an “unexpected upset” for the predicted front-runner, “A Minecraft Movie.” Much of that success was due to a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and a fervent word-of-mouth campaign from audiences that continues to explode online — from fan theories and detailed scene breakdowns to full-blown dissertations praising every cultural nuance embedded in the film. Fueling the momentum further was Coogler’s passionate viral breakdown of the various big-screen formats to experience “Sinners” in, which inspired many more to snag tickets.
These factors alone gave “Sinners” its blockbuster potential, now a proven reality. Despite that, some publications still underestimated the movie’s ability to recoup its $90 million budget from Warner Bros. The New York Times published an article titled “‘Sinners’ Is a Box Office Success (With a Big Asterisk),” while Variety noted that the film’s profitability “remains a question mark.”