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Actor and director Ben Stiller recently pushed back on Variety's narrative about the box office profitability of Sinners, the original period horror flick directed by Ryan Coogler of Black Panther and Creed fame. Released during the Easter weekend on April 18, Sinners gained $61 million at the global box office in its opening weekend, making this the biggest opening for an original film since Jordan Peele's Us (2019), which collected $71 million in its opening week.
On April 20, 2025, Variety published an article about the opening week box office collection for Coogler's latest film, comparing it with Warner Bros' $90 million production budget for the film. The publication claimed the horror flick's "profitability remains a ways away," writing:
"In all, “Sinners” has amassed $61 million in its global debut. It’s a great result for an original, R-rated horror film that takes place in the 1930s, yet the Warner Bros. release has an eye-popping $90 million price tag before global marketing expenses, so profitability remains a ways away."
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That same day, Ben Stiller took to X to voice his displeasure at the publication's article, questioning why a $61 million global debut warranted such a comment.
"In what universe does a 60 million dollar opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline?," Stiller wrote on X.
The Zoolander actor is not the only celebrity who condemned Variety's article. Patrick Schwarzenegger, of Gen V and The White Lotus fame, also called out the publication for its headline on X, adding that the collection was only for the opening weekend.
Exploring Sinners' box office collection
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan join forces for the fifth time in the original period horror flick, Sinners. Jordan, who has worked with Coogler in all his previous projects, including the Black Panther series and Creed, portrays twins Smoke and Stack in this movie, which is set in the 1930s. According to IMDb, the summary for Sinners states:
"Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back."
The horror flick also stars Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Omar Miller, and Li Jun Li. Following its release on Easter weekend, the movie was met with immense praise, garnering a 98% critical review score on Rotten Tomatoes. Sinners also became the first horror movie in 35 years to earn an “A” grade on CinemaScore.
According to Variety, the movie collected $45.6 million across 3,308 North American theaters from Thursday evening through Sunday. Additionally, it earned $15.4 million globally, bringing the opening week collection to $61 million. The UK led the global revenue with $3.2 million. This was followed by France, which amassed $2 million, and Mexico, which collected $1.1 million.
Over 20% of the tickets' sell were accounted for by IMAX, with collections adding up to nearly $2 million of the international box office revenues. The publication also noted that over 40% of ticket buyers were black, while 35% were white.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Mike De Luca & Pam Abdy, Warner Bros.' co-chairmen/CEOs, recently commented on the success of Sinners and A Minecraft Movie (also produced by Warner Bros. and surpassing $720 million at the box office as of this article).
“As we continue to strive to bring an array of films to moviegoers, we are thrilled to see how Ryan Coogler’s original movie Sinners, and a movie based on the fan favorite Minecraft game, have resonated with audiences in such a stellar way," the statement read.
It continued:
"Movies have the power to transport us to worlds only seen on the big screen, and Warner Bros. Pictures remains committed to bringing singular in-theater experiences to audiences looking for bold movies, both original and those based on beloved existing properties
In other news, Warner Bros. struck an unconventional deal with director Ryan Coogler for Sinners in the wake of competition from other production houses. According to The New York Times, the studio arranged to give him a cut of gross ticket sales. Furthermore, Warner Bros. also agreed to give him ownership of the movie after 25 years without any additional cost.
