Sinners is this decade’s highest-grossing original movie in America, and it’s not even close. The period horror film represents the fifth collaboration between Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan after Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It features a wholly original story by Coogler, not based on any preexisting intellectual property, starring Jordan in a dual role as twin brothers with criminal pasts, Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown in the Mississippi Delta in 1932 to start a juke joint and are confronted by a horde of vampires.

As an original R-rated horror movie, there were doubts about whether Sinners could justify its hefty $90 million price tag, but it has exceeded those expectations. Released in theaters on April 18, Sinners debuted to $48 million, the best opening weekend for an original film since Jordan Peele’s Us ($71 million) in 2019. Since then, Sinners has shown legs at the box office, fueled by stellar reviews from critics and strong word of mouth among audiences, experiencing only a 4.9% drop in its second weekend. Now, with Sinners available on digital platforms, its historic box office run is effectively over.

Sinners’ Domestic Box Office Beats The Next-Highest Original Film By Over $100 Million

Hollywood Truly Is In Its IP Era

Sinners‘ domestic box office, currently sitting at $261 million according to Box Office Report, beats the next highest-grossing original film, Pixar’s Elemental ($154 million), by over $100 million. In this case, “original” means created entirely from scratch, not adapted from any existing work or inspired by a real individual. Under these parameters, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ($330 million) wouldn’t count since it’s based on the biography American Prometheus and the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

After Elemental, the next films that fit this definition are Migration ($127M), Jordan Peele’s Nope ($123M), Free Guy ($121M), IF ($111M), Smile ($105.9M), The Lost City ($105.3M), Red One ($97M), Encanto ($96M), and M3GAN ($95M). The fact that Sinners‘ domestic box office has beaten the next highest-grossing original film by over $100 million represents a huge win for its original storytelling, but it also shows how deeply entrenched Hollywood is in its IP era.

Among the highest-grossing movies this decade at the domestic box office, the top 24 are either sequels – such as Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814M), Top Gun: Maverick ($718M), Avatar: The Way of Water ($684M), Inside Out 2 ($652M), and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine ($636M) – or are based on a preexisting IP – such as Barbie ($636M), The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($574M), Wicked ($473M), and A Minecraft Movie ($422M). Sinners, at No. 25, is an outlier on this list, showing just how special it truly is.

Hollywood Should Take Note Of Sinners’ Achievement

American Audiences Crave Quality Original Filmmaking

Hollywood should take note of Sinners‘ achievement, not just as a box office anomaly, but as proof of what is possible when studios take bold, creative risks. Sinners, an original R-rated horror movie, made more at the domestic box office than what were believed to be safer family-friendly sequels, such as Mufasa: The Lion King ($254M), Sonic the Hedgehog 3 ($236M), and Kung Fu Panda 4 ($193M). It’s an incredible feat for an industry increasingly reliant on established franchises. Sinners proves that audiences will show up for fresh stories when they are told with style, substance, and a clear creative vision.

American audiences are clearly craving quality original filmmaking. Sinners sports a 96% “Verified H๏τ” audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with viewers praising Coogler for crafting a viciously entertaining vampire thriller that is unapologetically Black, loaded with energy, and carried by a stellar cast and killer score. Notably, Sinners is the first horror movie to ever receive an “A” CinemaScore from audiences. The success of Sinners should be a loud reminder that original cinema still has bite.

Sinners is now available to buy on digital platforms.