Since the news broke about Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan working together on their fifth project, which has now been revealed as Sinners, speculation has run rampant about what exactly the project is about.

With the release of the film’s official trailer today, many of those questions have been answered.

Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

“You keep dancing with the devil, one day he’s gonna follow you home.”

While the film’s synopsis also drops some subtle hints, Coogler opened up about his inspirations in a pre-trailer release press conference where he revealed his family’s Mississippi roots helped him conjure the supernatural tale.

Ryan Coogler Drew On His Mississippi Roots For SINNERS

“It’s very personal,” Coogler revealed. ” It’s interesting, each time I’ve made something I’ve been blessed that it’s been the most personal thing that I made to date, and this one was no different. Pat, my maternal grandfather is from Mississippi and my Uncle James, who passed away while I was finishing up Creed was also from Mississippi. It was a place that I had never been. My maternal grandfather passed before I was born. We grew up in a house that he built in Oakland after he had moved to California. I was fortunate enough to have a really, really close relationship with my Uncle James. And this movie, the seed of it started with that relationship with my uncle. You know, he would listen to Blues music all the time. He would only talk about Mississippi when he was listening to that music. And, he had a profound, effect on my life. and I got a chance to dig into my own ancestral history with this film and it’s been extremely rewarding.”

“For me, the film for me personally was a reclamation of a time period and a place that my family doesn’t talk about much, you know, because it’s a lot of feelings associated wit our history. And we go there, in full showing these people.”

Written and directed Coogler, SINNERS stars Jordan (the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises) in a dual role, joined by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld (“Bumblebee,” “True Grit”), Jack O’Connell (“Ferrari”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Passenger”), Jayme Lawson (“The Woman King”), Omar Miller (“True Lies”), and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”). The project Written and directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Coogler, “Sinners” stars Jordan (the “Black Panther” and “Creed” franchises) in a dual role, joined by Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld (“Bumblebee,” “True Grit”), Jack O’Connell (“Ferrari”), Wunmi Mosaku (“Passenger”), Jayme Lawson (“The Woman King”), Omar Miller (“True Lies”), and Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”). The film also introduces audiences to Miles Caton in his debut role.

“I can’t wait for folks to see Miles,” Coogler said. “He’s special.”

Ryan Coogler Hired Idential Twins To Consult On SINNERS

As for Jordan’s appearance in the film as twins Elijah and Elias Smoke, Coogler says the mystical element of identical twins was key component to SINNERS from the outset.

“There’s a lot of archetypical characters and, these are identical twins, but they also are like that concept of twins, like, every neighborhood where I was from coming up, if you said, ‘Hey man, where are the twins?’ They would have these guys that are kind of notorious, kind of local celebrities. So it was an exploration of that. It’s unique in that they are identical twins, but they are two different people. So it’s not as simple as two sides at the same coin in that there’s a dynamic that exists with identical twins. It’s kind of known.”

“We had twin consultants on this movie,” Coogler added. “Two friends of mine who are actually filmmakers as well, Logan and Noah Miller, who I know from Northern California. They were able to consult and work with Mike just on the mindset of sharing a womb with somebody and growing up with them and how unique of a dynamic that is, but at the same time, not making it a caricature. So the differences between these two guys, are slight, but they are there.”

Coogler Re-Assembled Previous Collaborators For SINNERS

Coogler reassembled many of the same behind-the-camera artisans from his Black Panther outings, director of photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Oscar-winning production designer Hannah Beachler, editor Michael P. Shawver, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, and Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter. While he singled out each member of the them for their contributions to SINNERS we were particularly interested in his comments on Ludwig Göransson, because of the importance of Blues music to the film.

“In some ways, you know, it’s the perfect movie for Ludwig,” Coogler explained. “When I first met him, I hadn’t spent time around a film composer before we met in school… and I didn’t know what a composer did totally. And I remember we were walking across campus one day and I asked him, I said, ‘So do you play a lot of instruments?’ He said ‘Not really, but I do play guitar very well.’ This movie is about many things but one of those major through lines is it’s about a guitar player.

So this is a movie you kind of written for him. He cuts loose on this.”

“He’s a guitarist because his father is a guitarist and taught him and his father was obsessed with the musicians from this era, from this region,” Coogler said. “We actually did the Blues Trail, when we were researching the film and doing some early location scouting and Ludwig and his dad came with us. We went to BB King’s club in Indianola, Mississippi and played on the stage of his club. It was just heavily researched, and in terms of supernatural elements as well, all of that, you know, it’s all of that there in terms of hoodoo culture.”

Ryan Coogler Talks Hoodoo Culture, Vampires And Supernatural Elements In SINNERS

It’s long been speculated that SINNERS is a vampire movie, but Coogler pointedly noted that while there are vampires in the movie, that’s not what the film is about.

During the pre-trailer conference Coogler was questioned about the supernatural elements that appear in the project and the duality of vampires and werewolves. He was careful not to get too specific, but he did address why vampires were included.

“The film deals with American music, Blues music, which is you know, if you know, you know the story of Tommy Johnson, Robert Johnson, you know, all of that is Hoodoo culture, Elegba, all of these concepts and ideas,” Coogler explained. “When you think about the vampire, as it exists, it’s got an association or counterpart in almost every culture. But it is the supernatural creature that’s most associated with seduction… Blues music was often called the Devil’s music. There’s a contrast between a secular music and that, you know. You know what I’m saying? And so the film is in conversation with all those things. But the duality is always at the heart of it. You’ll often find the best Blues musicians or the best R&B singers, even to this day, if you go into their history it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, the first time I sang was in church.’”

SINNERS Was Inspired By Coen Brothers Films, The Twilight Zone and Salem’s Lot

While Coogler says he was excited to dabble in the horror genre with SINNERS, he also was clear that the film straddles multiple genres. Asked about his inspirations for the film, he name dropped some projects we think might surprise a lot of folks.

“It’s a lot of Coen Brothers influencing this,” Coogler said. “Starting with Inside Llewyn Davis, definitely some Fargo there, definitely some No Country for Old Men. Robert Rodriguez is a big one. On the nose it’d be very easy to say From Dusk Til Dawn but it’s actually quite close to The Faculty quite a bit. Which is a remake of The Thing, which is one of my favorite movies. Definitely my favorite horror movie. So it’s a lot of Carpenter in the film as well. Truthfully the biggest influences are not in cinema. The novel Salem’s Lot. That’s a massive influence on the film. And then there’s a real deep cut influence. My favorite thing ever made is The Twilight Zone and my favorite episode of that is an episode called “The Last Rites of Jeff Murtlebank.” Salem’s Lot is about the town. Like I said, this movie is about this community.”

This movie is one we definitely want to go see as a community. We’ll be rounding up all our friends who don’t mind a little shooting and biting and go see it in IMAX.

The film is produced by Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler. The executive producers are Ludwig Göransson, Will Greenfield and Rebecca Cho.

SINNERS will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on April 18, 2025, and internationally beginning on 16 April 2025.