Ryan Coogler just broke Hollywood's studio system. It's about time

Ryan Coogler has crushed the box office with his latest film, Sinners. The talented writer-director set off a cultural touchstone with the Prohibition-era flick, just like he did with 2018’s Black Panther. But it’s not the vampires, the jazz or even the twin Michael B. Jordans that have Hollywood reeling. It’s the deal that he brokered with Warner Bros.

Instead of agreeing to take his cut after Warner Bros. recouped its production costs, which is the industry norm, Coogler negotiated to receive “first-dollar profit,” meaning that he would get his share of earnings from initial box office profits. No fingers crossed that the movie did well. No desperate artist stuff. Just a confidence that said, If you want me, pay up now.

This kind of thinking alone is alien to movie studios. But Coogler took it one step further: he also had his contract arranged so that he would earn full rights to Sinners after 25 years (in 2050). Think: George Lucas and Star Wars. Coogler can become crazy rich one day if Sinners maintains its popular status.

Coogler fans have applauded his savvy and believe that the creator deserves this kind of reward, but the big suits aren’t happy at all. One film executive called the deal “very dangerous.” Another stated that these kinds of deals would spell the end of Hollywood’s studio system.

To say this deal is “dangerous” to the studio system is insulting. Studios have historically swindled Black directors, even when their films were self-financed, which was often the case. Warner Bros. — the same studio working with Coogler — infamously shut down production for Spike Lee’s Malcolm X over budget disputes despite Lee having put half of his salary into the film’s production. Once the film was finished, Warner Bros. made double its budget through box office earnings and the film earned two Academy Award nominations. What did Lee get? Not the rights to the movie for which he labored.

But here’s the thing: other directors have made deals like Coogler’s before. The only difference is that they had less melanin than the Creed director.

When Quentin Tarantino, American filmmaker known for his graphic works Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, made a deal to own Once Upon A Time In Hollywood after 30 years, many writers and film reporters praised him to the heavens for taking control of his intellectual property. Fast forward a few years and suddenly the system is questioning if Coogler really “deserves” ownership because he didn’t solely finance the film. This, of course, is asinine. If Coogler could afford to finance the film, why would he be working with studios in the first place?

Why is it that white filmmakers are celebrated for their dealmaking but when it comes to Coogler, it’s dangerous? This overreaction is very telling of how Hollywood thinks of its creators of color. They don’t understand them. And they really can’t wrap their heads around why audiences are eating up their work.

That’s because Hollywood’s game plan is to pump out easy blockbusters. This has brought on countless superhero movies, video game adaptations and unnecessary sequels that leave movie-goers feeling fatigued. Films like Kraven the Hunter, Joker: Folie A Deux, Borderlands and Warner Bros.’ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga were all expensive, unoriginal flops.

Meanwhile, Black filmmakers like Coogler, Jordan Peele and Cord Jefferson are crafting masterpieces that have held open the doors for other creators. Films like Sinners, Nope and American Fiction have raised the bar on what makes a film “original” by fusing unlikely genres and Black narratives. It’s no coincidence these films are increasingly becoming popular with today’s audiences.

So let’s be honest, folks. Hollywood is in no danger of collapsing just because they gave one Black man a favourable deal. Coogler isn’t squeezing money out of Warner Bros. like a school-yard bully shaking down Thurman Merman for his lunch money. In reality, Sinners has surpassed its $90 million budget by over $150 million in just the fourth week, with no signs of slowing down in ticket sales anytime soon.

Warner Bros. will still make a profit off any merchandise or ticket sales up until the deal goes into effect in 2050. The majority of box office and streaming revenue for the next 25 years will still belong to Warner Bros.

The film industry is worth over $100 billion. If there’s any industry in this world that can survive like a cockroach in a nuclear wasteland, it’s the entertainment industry. Warner Bros. and other studios are in no way going extinct because of the Coogler contract.

Hollywood is afraid of having to show respect and work with a new wave of Black filmmakers who are relentlessly inventing original, enriching and provocative pieces — something for which Coogler has definitely helped pave the way.

And if this is the studio system that’s getting killed by Coogler’s deal, well then, adios baby.