Sinners is a hit! What Screenwriters (and Hollywood) should learn.

You’ve heard the naysayers and armchair box office prognosticators this year. Hollywood is dead. Cinema is dead. Movie theaters are dead. Et cetera.

It sounds a whole lot like… what they said last year. And the year before. And the year before. They said it before Top Gun: Maverick. They said it before Barbenheimer. And they said it before Sinners.

But to paraphrase Mark Twain, “Reports of Hollywood’s death are greatly exaggerated.”

As screenwriters, what can we learn from the success of Sinners? And, maybe more importantly… What should Hollywood learn?

Let’s put aside the Hollywood exec fear-mongering about writer/director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners ownership deal. Let’s try to forget the ridiculous (and biased) debate over whether or not it’s a box office hit (it is). Instead, let’s focus on what makes Sinners special and why it’s resonating with audiences.

Odds are, if you’re reading this blog, you know what Sinners is. But just in case, Sinners is the new film from Ryan Coogler, the writer/director behind Fruitvale Station, Creed, and the Black Panther films, all of which had some kind of existing IP behind them. Fruitvale was based on a tragic true story, Creed is an extension of the Rocky franchise, and Black Panther comes from Marvel.

Sinners is straight from Coogler’s dome. No IP. No true story. Nothing to draw from or hide behind. Not that Coogler was hiding. Far from it. What made Coogler’s previous work so great is his clear gift for endowing franchise filmmaking with a personal touch. But this one, it’s all personal touch.

And it’s in that we can learn a lesson from its success. A lesson screenwriters need. (And Hollywood execs need even more.)

No one in Hollywood was asking for an original Jim Crow-era vampire horror steeped in blues music and Hoodoo mythology with an almost entirely Black cast. In this day and age, with the way the industry currently works, the fact that this movie got made is a miracle, even with a filmmaker like Coogler’s clout.

But it did get made. Because, to their credit, Warner Bros. gave it a chance. They believed in Coogler’s vision and gave him the money to bring it into existence. And now they’re all reaping the financial and critical rewards. All because they let Coogler cook.

They let a writer/director with a vision make his movie. And, it shows. Every moment of Sinners feels like it comes from a singular voice. That’s what people are responding to. That’s why the movie is resonating with audiences. Because it’s an expert storyteller allowed to tell his story. His way.

Audiences are smarter than they get credit for. Even if they don’t follow the trades, they can feel when a movie announces itself boldly. When a filmmaker has something to say. When a studio supports a filmmaker’s vision.

And, conversely, they can feel when a movie has passed through the hands of two dozen executives and their red pens. When a story has been sanded down, stripped of its most interesting choices, and shoved firmly into the mediocre.

It’s easy to understand why they do it. Movies are expensive to make, and Hollywood wants to appeal to as many people as possible. But, when you try to make a movie for everybody, 99 times out of 100, you end up making a movie for nobody.

The problem isn’t people don’t go to movies anymore. The problem, if you could call it that, is that people don’t go to mediocre movies anymore. If you want an audience, give them something to leave the house for.

If Hollywood is paying attention, the lesson they’ll take away from Sinners is that there is still an audience for an original voice with something to say. Hire good filmmakers and storytellers and trust them to deliver.

And, if screenwriters are paying attention, our takeaway should be to write boldly. To tell the stories we’re passionate about. To not chase trends and write what we think the industry wants. To write what burns within us.

Because when those stories are given a chance, people show up.

Got a bold, original screenplay that’s you on the page? Want to make it the best it can be? After Fade Out Screenwriting Services is here to help. Check out our services and see what’s right for you.