When you think of films that are masterpieces, horror movies aren’t the first genre that comes to mind. True, what ranks as a ‘masterpiece’ differs from person to person. But to get an overall idea, there’s CinemaScore.
CinemaScore has been polling audiences as they leave films on opening night since 1978. Some films, such as The King’s Speech and Titanic, are expected to have high audience scores. However, despite their popularity, horror movies rarely rank above a B or C on the list. Even one of our favorite horror franchises, Scream, has scores between B- and B+, but no A’s.
Director Ryan Coogler is known for fan favorites and critically acclaimed films such as Creed and Black Panther. However, Sinners marks his first foray into the horror genre. He has now proven that audiences adore his films, regardless of the genre they fall under.
Horror Film Achieves a Rare ‘A’ CinemaScore
Coogler’s new horror film, Sinners, has managed to surpass even its highest expectations. Everyone expected the film to do well at the box office, and it has, opening with an admirable $63 globally in its opening weekend. However, it has also proven to be all audiences had hoped it would be, with CinemaScore giving the film an A rating.
For reference, James Cameron’s 1979 sci-fi/horror film, Aliens, has an A rating. For many people, Aliens is the gold standard, but it’s also considered more of an action sci-fi film with horror undertones. Finding a true horror film that has an A rating is very difficult. Sinners has managed to snag that title.
With its A, Sinners has beaten out notable horror films Get Out, The Lost Boys, and The Conjuring — all films with an A- CinemaScore grade.
‘Sinners’ Destined to Break More Records
Sinners is a vampire film set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932. Michael B. Jordan, who has now worked with Coogler on five films, plays the dual role of identical twins Smoke and Stack. The two are determined to open a blues club when things take a turn.
While Coogler is a self-confessed fan of horror, Jordan is not. “I’m definitely the person covering my eyes and looking away from the screen,” Jordan told CBS Mornings. Despite that, he admitted that “the most intense scenes were the most fun to do. We were cracking up laughing, trying to keep a straight face sometimes, because these circumstances are so ridiculous.”
Along with entering the rarified air of A CinemaScore grades for horror films, Sinners has done better than any other original film since Jordan Peele’s Us in 2019. Since the pandemic, Nope had the biggest opening for an original film at $44.3 million, which Sinners has passed.
Another area Sinners may make history is with its April R-rated opening. Only one R-rated film released in April has made more than $100 million, and that was 1993’s Indecent Proposal, starring Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, and Robert Redford. Sinners could definitely pass that marker.
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