Despite Sinners crossing the $350 million mark at the global box office and climbing into the year’s top 10 earners, director Ryan Coogler says a sequel was never on the table. In a recent interview with Ebony Magazine, the filmmaker, known for steering high-profile franchises like Black Panther and Creed, revealed that he approached Sinners with an entirely different mindset — one firmly rooted in finality.
"I’ve been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that," Coogler explained. "I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me." He added that his vision for Sinners was holistic: "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."
That creative philosophy might come as a surprise to fans who assumed the vampire thriller — starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as brothers Smoke and Stack — was primed for a follow-up. Set in 1950s Mississippi and blending supernatural horror with Southern gothic soul, Sinners felt like franchise material on the surface. But for Coogler, it was never meant to spawn a universe.
Instead, the director says he built Sinners around the elements he loves most: "Anything supernatural, I’m in," he told Variety. "Stories about communities, about archetypes, about neighbourhoods… I love period anything." With that in mind, it seems that for Coogler, the story was never about setting up a sequel — it was about telling one complete, resonant tale.
