Studio Execs Who Think ‘Sinners’ “Could End the Studio System” Are Full of It — And Just Plain Wrong

There's no denying that Sinnersis a bona fide success. Not only did it snag the #1 box office spot from A Minecraft Movie, but it also has one of the best opening weekends for an original horror film and scored an "A" on CinemaScore—a true rarity for the genre. Considering how most original films have fared at the box office in recent years, this should be a win. Yet to some studio insiders, the most terrifying thing in Sinners isn't the horde of vampires that twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan) end up facing, but the deal writer/director Ryan Cooglerstruck with Warner Bros. A report by Vulture highlights the terms of said deal: Coogler had control over the final cut of Sinners, a percentage of the film's opening weekend profit, and would gain ownership of the film after 25 years. This led one executive to declare, "It could be the end of the studio system." Quite frankly, that's not even remotely true. One film's success won't lead to the death of the industry. But film history underlines a few reasons why Sinners' success has caused the upper echelons of Hollywood to shudder in fright.