Ryan Coogler Confused by Media Frenzy Around His ‘Sinners’ Rights Deal: ‘Nothing About This Is a New Thing’ | Video

Ryan Coogler said his multifaceted deal with Warner Bros., that gives him complete ownership over his hit action-horror film “Sinners,” is not a new concept in Hollywood, nor is he the first filmmaker to make such a request.

The conversation came about while Coogler was chatting with Democracy Now journalist Amy Goodman on Friday. At the time, Goodman inquired about the terms of his arrangement with Warner Bros., which includes the studio offering $90 million for Coogler to make the film, and their agreement to give him first-dollar gross — a cut of the ticket sales — as well as handing over ownership of the film to Coogler after 25 years. Other filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Christopher Nolan and more have received first-dollar and/or ownership deals for their movies.

After mentioning the reporting that some “rival film companies were horrified that Warner Bros. would give a film away even after a period of time,” Coogler shared his thoughts.

“I’ll maybe add some context that maybe those articles didn’t add: I’m not the first filmmaker to get any of these deals. And Warner Bros. is not the first studio to provide these deals to a filmmaker,” Coogler explained. “I think that a lot has been made of my deal in particular, I’m not totally sure why. I have my guesses, but I’ve been in the industry long enough to know what deals are possible and nothing about this deal is new thing.”

When Goodman asked, “What’s your guesses, Ryan?”

The director responded with a gentle laugh, “I would rather not say.”

He continued: “But the attention on what’s happening with this project outside of it as a piece of art and as a piece of commerce has been very interesting. But for me, this film was very important to me.”

He went on to explain that in the time that he has been a feature film director, he has earned Hollywood more than a billion dollars with his films, including the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises. In addition, Coogler noted that “Sinners” is a much more personal cinematic work that he wanted to advocate for.

“As a writer-director, I’ve made over $2 billion at the global box office; I’m not yet 40 years old. It’s taken a lot of time, commitment, energy and I’ve missed out on a lot things in my life making films that will always be owned by other people,” Coogler said. “For this one, because it was so personal, and because I had the ability to negotiate, I asked for a few things that are very important to me for this project. For what it was about and what it meant to me and my family. And thankfully, I was able to get those things I was asking for from Warner Bros.”

“Sinners,” which stars Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Omar Benson Miller and more, is now in theaters.

You can watch the full “Democracy Now!” clip in the video above.

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