Ryan Coogler’s 'Sinners' Contract Shakes Up the Hollywood Game
Ryan Coogler is already getting Oscar buzz for Sinners, but he's also breathing a sigh of relief for the smart financial deal he made for the film.
Like many aspiring filmmakers, Coogler had significant student loan debt from his master's degree at the University of Southern California's School of the Cinematic Arts. "Back then, bro, I wasn’t making no money,” the 38-year-old director revealed on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast on April 15. “I was $200,000 in debt for film school. It was bad.”
Coogler changed his fortune with Sinners by striking an unusual deal with Warner Bros. to make the movie. In addition to the film's $90 million asking price, his high-powered agents at WME asked for the final cut of the movie, a percentage of the box office beginning with opening weekend, and to retain ownership of the film 25 years after its release, per Vulture.
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Warner Bros. was reportedly the only studio able to meet Coogler's demands. While his requests for Sinners might seem like a cash grab, the Black Panther director told Business Insider that it came from a more personal place. The story was inspired by his grandfather and uncle who were from Mississippi.
"My uncle James loved to do three things: listening to Delta blues music, he loved drinking all types of whiskey, and he loved the San Francisco Giants, watching them on TV and listening to them on the radio," Coogler explained to the media outlet. "So, if you went and spent time with him he was doing one or all three of those things."
The clause in his contract was "specific" to Sinners and wouldn't be a standard for any future film. Owning his personal story was "the only motivation," but that decision should set him up for life.
Related: Ryan Coogler Sums Up 'Sinners' Early Success With Fantastic Metaphor
source https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/ryan-coogler-sinners-contract
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