Sinners box office explained: How it beat A Minecraft Movie
Sinners, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s acclaimed vampire horror, is off to an extraordinary start at the box office – and it even dethronedA Minecraft Movie.
The new film follows Smoke and Stack (Jordan), twin brothers who return home to the Mississippi Delta to open a juke joint. As the sun sets and people start to dance, a smily Irishman (Jack O’Connell) appears and asks to be invited in – and all hell breaks loose.
It’s one of the best-reviewed wide-release films of the decade, earning 98% and 97% certified critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and the first ‘A’ CinemaScore for ahorror movieever.
So, unsurprisingly, there was a bit of buzz around its opening weekend, with people all over the world flocking to cinemas to see what the fuss is about.
How much has Sinners made at the box office?
Sinners has made $61 million worldwide so far. In its opening weekend, it made $45.6m from the US alone, with $15.4m coming from international markets.
That’s a huge accomplishment for an R-rated original project. In fact, it’s the decade’s best box office debut for an original movie since Jordan Peele’s Nope in 2022, and it’s the biggest launch for any original film since Peele’s Us in 2019.
Even more notably, it beat A Minecraft Movie at the domestic box office. Thevideo game adaptationfell to number two on the North American chart, adding an extra $41.3 million to its haul – that means Warner Bros grossed more than $40m on two films in one weekend, an exceedingly rare feat.
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Below Minecraft, The King of Kings made $17.2m, The Amateur raked in $7.2m, and Warfare made $4.85m.
How much does Sinners need to make?
Sinners needs to make around $225 million at the box office to break even.
This may seem a bit confusing, since Sinners is reported to have cost Warner Bros $90 million to produce. However, that doesn’t include advertising costs, and it’s generally believed that a movie needs to make 2.5x its budget to break even (consider all of the costs; fees to exhibitors, merchandising, taxes, and much more).
Why is the Sinners box office causing controversy?
The way some outlets – namely, Variety and The New York Times – are reporting Sinners’ box office performance has been criticized on social media.
In short, Sinners’ opening weekend should be celebrated for all of the reasons above: it is a record-breaking debut for a 2020s original film, it’s in the top 10 Easter weekend launches of all time, and the larger consensus is that its haul will build as word-of-mouth spreads.
In what universe does a 60 million dollar opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline?https://t.co/rkFQxQNwMp
Alas, Variety has highlighted its “eye-popping” budget and warned that “profitability remains a ways away.” Similarly, The New York Times reported that its success has a “big asterisk… its profitability remains a long way off.”
As many have pointed out, other films haven’t received this sort of scrutiny. Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had a similarly successful opening weekend with around the same budget, and publications weren’t caveating its launch with the possibility of it still under-performing.
Ben Stiller specifically hit out at Variety,tweeting: “In what universe does a $60 million opening for an original studio movie warrant this headline?”
Where Sinners ranks on the 2025 box office
Sinners is currently 11th on the2025 box office rankings, which is pretty impressive given it’s only been out for one week. Check out what else is on the list below:
If you’ve seen it, check out our breakdown ofSinners’ ending and post-credits scenesandwhere Sinners will be available to stream. You can also keep tabs on the year’s releases with our2025 movie calendar.
