Ryan Coogler Says ‘Sinners' Was the Antidote to Directing Franchise Films: ‘I Wanted to Get Away from That'
The 'Black Panther' and 'Creed' director told Ebony Magazine that despite his original film being a box office hit, it's a one and done story. Coogler reunited with his frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan for the film, which puts Jordan in dual roles as twin gangsters Smoke and Stack. The film follows the brothers as they escape dueling factions in Chicago and return home to Mississippi to open a music hall, only to discover more blood-sucking foes left to battle.
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'I wanted the movie to feel like a full meal: your appetizers, starters, entrees and desserts, I wanted all of it there. I wanted it to be a holistic and finished thing,' Coogler said. 'That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention.'
He continued, 'I've been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that. I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me and had an appetite for delivering something to audiences that was original and unique.'
Coogler is confirmed to be developing an 'X-Files' reboot, saying during the 'Last Podcast on the Left' that the project has been in the works for a while. He also is returning to the MCU franchise world with 'Black Panther 3,' which will star Denzel Washington.
'I've been excited about ['X-Files'] for a long time, and I'm fired up to get back to it,' Coogler said. 'Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really fucking scary. We're going to try to make something really great and really be something for the real 'X Files' fans, and maybe find some new ones.'
Coogler previously thanked fellow filmmakers Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, and Brian De Palma for helping to inspire his leap of faith with 'Sinners.' He also credited audiences for purchasing tickets to go to the feature in theaters.
Coogler wrote in a letter shared with IndieWire, 'I had the gift of the opportunity of making a film inspired by my family and my ancestry, but it was always a film that we wanted to make for audiences, in theaters. We always had our minds on you, the audience, and felt a deep responsibility to entertain you, and move you in the way only cinema can. We don't get to do what we do if you don't show up. To see your response to the film has reinvigorated me and many others who believe in this art form. And together maybe we can expand the definition of what a blockbuster is, what a horror movie is, and of what an IMAX audience looks like.'
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