“Sinners” has soared at the box office over the Easter weekend, but salvation for the Warner Bros. film isn’t here yet.
The highly anticipated R-rated vampire drama set in the Jim Crow era topped the box office taking an estimated $45 million over its opening weekend including Thursday previews, Deadline reported.
The release also took $15.4 million internationally, for a global tally of about $60 million, per Variety.
“Sinners” unexpectedly edged out “A Minecraft Movie,” another also Warner Bros. release, to take the top spot in the US this weekend after surpassing projections by about $15 million.
The film, directed, written, and produced by Ryan Coogler, is his first original story since his directorial debut in 2013, following a series of franchise continuations, including “Creed” (2015) and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2023).
Starring Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, it follows twin brothers who return to their Mississippi hometown to open a new juke joint, only to discover an army of vampires waiting to welcome them back. It also stars Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, and Jayme Lawson.
The film has received high praise from critics and also has a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The New York Times reported that Warner Bros. bet big on “Sinners,” spending at least $90 million to bring Coogler’s vision to life, as well as another $60 million in international marketing costs.
A rare, lucrative compensation deal that Coogler reportedly struck with the studio means he will receive a share of its box-office revenue before Warners turns a profit.
Vulture reported that Warner Bros. agreed to give Coogler an unspecified percentage of the gross ticket sales before the studio deducts costs.
Sony and Universal were also trying to snag “Sinners,” so to seal the deal with the Oscar-nominated director Warners also made other concessions.
These included giving Coogler a say on the film’s final cut and reverting ownership of the film to him 25 years after its release.
Coogler previously told Business Insider that “the only motivation” for him to add this particular clause into the deal was because of how it reflected the theme of Black ownership, which is explored in the film.
Coogler said he doesn’t own any of his other films and has no plans to own future titles.
Nevertheless, it’s a rare deal in Hollywood, and puts Coogler among a group of elite filmmakers who can command such power in negotiations.
Representatives for Coogler and Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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