*Warner Bros. made a heap of money from the success of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s “Sinners,” but the studio appears to have loosened that grip on the business angle of show business.
That is to make money with each project. And lots of it.
Yet Warners stuck to a shared belief among movie studios that features with a predominantly Black cast are not able to make serious money internationally.
A belief that cost them even more funds to be generated from what many feel is one of the best films of 2025.
Exploring the issue, SlashFlim’s Ryan Scott noted stats for “Sinners,” which include the following:
The first original movie of any kind to make more than $200 million domestically in nearly a decade. A place in cinema history with near-universal praise from critics and filmgoers.
“Another $5.2 million to its ever-growing domestic box office total to cross the $350 million mark globally on its seventh weekend of release, not to mention
Continued residency in the top 10 and $267 million made in North America to go with $83 million overseas, making it the seventh-biggest movie globally of 2025 overall
To say that $400 million worldwide is still very much in the cards for “Sinners” (or any movie released during the pandemic era) is an understatement.
“Dating back to its excellent $48 million opening in April, “Sinners’ has been killing it in ways nobody thought possible,” Scott wrote before taking a deeper look at what could’ve been for the celebrated horror film overseas. “So, what’s the downside? Looking at those numbers, it’s hard not to notice that the movie has made less than 24% of its total global gross overseas. For a movie that has done so well in the U.S. (one that comes from the director behind worldwide hits such as “Black Panther” and “Creed,” no less), that’s worth raising an eyebrow over.”
© 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Although he admits not knowing “the ins and outs of Warner Bros.’ marketing strategy,” Scott is “crystal clear” in calling out the studio’s “grave error” in underestimating the potential for even more money coming in from a bigger international run for “Sinners.”
“In doing so, WB left a great deal of money on the table, incorrectly assuming that demand internationally for a vampire movie with a primarily Black cast would be limited,” he mentioned.
International ticket sales may have been tame compared to domestic ticket sales, but more demand for the film In many key countries for “Sinners” is there.
Need proof? Scott has it, citing a dramatic increase in the theater count for “Sinners” in France after its opening weekend in an attempt to meet growing demand.” The U.K. was not immune either, as it the historical period movie was “playing on more than 600 screens for five weeks, with the film seeing virtually no decline in its second weekend.”
Anecdotally, I can tell you that I spoke with several people who live outside of the U.S. who had trouble finding a screening of “Sinners” near them as local chains scrambled to book the movie after its bigger-than-expected opening,” Scott stated while revealing how evident Warners felt those audiences wouldn’t turn up to show love to “Sinners.”
Nevertheless, it was a gamble that brought less than flattering attention to its ability to fully expand the success of “Sinners” to an audience that was ready and willing to see the film in a movie theater. To that, Warners can only look back on choosing the wrong path to take in perhaps mitigating spending with his underestimation and the loads of money that could’ve been made if it had only taken the film’s triumph in the States more seriously.
“Maybe WB assumed the film would play more like Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out,’ which made $255.4 million worldwide, with $176 million — or 69% of its total — coming from stateside audiences,” speculated Scott. “Or maybe it assumed that “Black Panther,” which came close to evenly splitting its domestic and international ticket sales on its way to bringing in a record-shattering $1.3 billion in 2018, only performed the way it did because it was a Marvel movie. Whatever calculations the studio made, they have proven to be costly.”
Although Hollywood is totally immersed in reboot culture filled with nostalgic flashbacks, an original movie, though refreshing, is a certified risk for massive box office business.
The kicker is Warner Bros. had Coogler and Jordan, a lethal and successful pair that have yielded gold at the box office every time they have collaborated. Yet the studio played it too safe and blew what should have been a guaranteed half million made from not fully going all in.
Let’s hope Warner Bros. has learned its lesson and will work to show that a great movie is a great movie that deserves a fair shot at being all that. Critically, financially, and most importantly, equally.
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