Five takeaways about "Sinners" box office success

Okay, maybe you're more interested in "Thunderbolts*" the first Marvel release of 2025 that doesn't feel like Disney throwing a movie into the theaters and hoping that it at least doesn't bomb. Until then, though, the movie of the moment is definitively "Sinners." Let's get into some of the details.

Bonus "Sinners"-related thing: Tom Cruise loves going to the movies.

1. "Sinners" topped the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row. "The Accountant 2" didn't really threaten it, with a re-release of "Revenge of the Sith" finishing second in the box office. 

2. That's not the remarkable part. "Sinners" made $45 million after it made $48 million in its opening weekend. That drop off of a mere six percent is incredible. Movies, even popular ones, don't tend to retain that much of their initial box office total. In essence, one can safely assume that the reviews and hype generated by the opening weekend heavily increased the number of people who wanted to see it this weekend. Word of mouth lives!

3. Horror movies tend to lack for legs in theaters, and a horror movie released in April doesn't even have "spooky season" vibes to carry it. Reviews are stellar. "Sinners" is truly worthy of the sometimes-maligned designation of "elevated horror." There will likely be some Oscar nominations stemming from this movie. Perhaps even a Best Picture nomination. Michael B. Jordan plays multiple characters. That could yield a nomination. Don't be surprised if "Sinners" ends up an awards player.

4. "Sinners" is an R-rated original property that currently sits third in the domestic box office totals on the year. It's behind a movie based on a video game that young adults (and extant kids) have lived inside for years and a movie where Harrison Ford is a Red Hulk. There's a good chance "Sinners" is the highest-grossing original film of 2025 when all is said and done. We hope that Ryan Coogler insists upon just making the wildest movie imaginable with the cache he's earning right now. Maybe he can do a meta, experimental docu-drama about Pavement! Wait, nevermind.

5. Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are themselves veterans of the MCU, and now their film "Sinners" will be going up against "Thunderbolts*" next weekend. Now, we fully expect "Thunderbolts*" to top the box office, and of course people are allowed to see more than one movie in a weekend. We are curious to see how "Sinners" holds up in its third weekend, though, and if it appears to cut into the Marvel movie's success at all. Although, we will fully stump for the idea of going to see two movies in one weekend. Hell, why not two movies back-to-back? "Sinderbolts*?" Could that be a thing?

(h/t Variety)