From Fruitvale Station to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ryan Coogler has established himself as one of the most vital voices in filmmaking over the past 12 years, and now he's stepping into the world of horror with his latest film, Sinners. Ahead of the movie's April 18th release in theaters, Warner Bros. revealed a new trailer for Sinners that sinks its teeth into visceral scares and unveils the vampiric side of its chilling and emotional story.
Daily Dead recently took part in a virtual Sinners trailer preview event with Ryan Coogler hosted by Juju Green. During the insightful conversation about Sinners, Coogler discussed how this film is especially a personal project for him:
My maternal grandfather is from Mississippi. And my uncle James, who passed away while I was finishing up Creed, was also from Mississippi. And it was a place I had never been. My maternal grandfather passed before I was born. We grew up in a house that he built in Oakland after he had moved to California, and I was fortunate to have a really, really close relationship with my uncle James, and this movie, the seed of it started with that relationship with my uncle. He would listen to blues music all the time. He would only talk about Mississippi when he was listening to that music. He had a profound effect on my life, and I got a chance to dig into my own ancestral history with this film, and it's been extremely rewarding.
Coogler also mentioned the horror influences on Sinners, including John Carpenter, Robert Rodriguez's The Faculty, Stephen King's ’Salem's Lot, and The Twilight Zone episode "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," written and directed by Montgomery Pittman:
It is a very genre-fluid film—a lot of Coen Brothers' influence in this, starting with Inside Llewyn Davis, some O Brother [Where Art Thou?] in there, definitely some Fargo in there, definitely some No Country [for Old Men]. Robert Rodriguez is a big one. I think on the nose it would be very easy to make the comparison to From Dusk [Till Dawn], but it's actually quite close to The Faculty... There's a lot of Carpenter in the film as well.
But the biggest influences are not in cinema. The novel ’Salem's Lot, that's a massive influence on the film. And then there's a real deep-cut influence, my favorite thing ever made is Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, and my favorite episode of that is called "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank." ’Salem's Lot and "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" are probably the biggest influences.
With Michael B. Jordan playing identical twins in the Sinners, Coogler discussed how they strove to make his dual performance as authentic as possible:
It's unique in that they are identical twins, but they are two different people. It's not as simple as two sides of the same coin. There's a dynamic that exists with identical twins that's kind of known, and we had twin consultants on this movie, two friends of mine that are actually filmmakers as well, Logan and Noah Miller, who I know from Northern California where I'm at. They were able to consult and work with Mike just on the mindset of sharing a womb with somebody and growing up with them and how unique of a dynamic that is, but at the same time not making it a caricature. So the differences between these two guys are slight, but they are there.
Daily Dead also got to view a clip from Sinners that showed the film's unique approach to classic vampire lore, and suffice to say that horror fans are in for a treat when it comes to nerve-shredding, bloodthirsty tension.
Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on Sinners, and you can get an idea of what to expect from Ryan Coogler's latest film in the trailer, official synopsis, and posters below!
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.”
Written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Coogler, “Sinners” stars Jordan (the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises) in a dual role, joined by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld (“Bumblebee,” “True Grit”), Jack O’Connell (“Ferrari”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Passenger”), Jayme Lawson (“The Woman King”), Omar Miller (“True Lies”), and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”).
The film is produced by Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler. The executive producers are Ludwig Göransson, Will Greenfield and Rebecca Cho.
Coogler’s behind-the-camera artisans include his “Black Panther” franchise collaborators: director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler, editor Michael P. Shawver, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, and Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents A Proximity Media Production: “Sinners.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on April 18, 2025, and internationally beginning on 16 April 2025.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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