Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is proving to be something of a mini-phenomenon in the USA, with stellar reviews scores from both critics and audiences.
The weekend box-office numbers are coming in strong and ahead of domestic projections. It held up strong through Sunday to take $48 million from its opening weekend.
Remember, this is a R-rated horror.
So people have started asking if Sinners can top-out with some kind of horror record, and also breakout like Get Out did a few years ago.
There is, however, a couple of small issues. First off all is the cost. Sinners apparently cost Warner Bros. $150 million including marketing spend. That means it needs to push through $300 million to turn a profit.
Secondly, it is simply not connecting with audiences overseas right now.
It has opened in over 70 countries and across them all it pulled in just $15.4 million for the weekend.
The themes and messages in Sinners could be classed as America-centric, hence it’s failure to breakthrough.
Will it find itself hobbled by the lack of overseas momentum?