Ryan Coogler & Michael B. Jordan React To Sinners Making History

The celebrated duo Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are understandably stunned after their masterpiece film makes history.

On January 22, the 2026 Oscars nominations were announced, revealing that Sinners had been nominated in 16 categories, the most ever for a movie recognized by the Academy. In addition to a Best Picture nod, Coogler has been nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, while Jordan is nominated for acting, alongside his co-stars Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo.

When they spoke to Variety, Ryan and fellow Sinners producer Zinzi Coogler were still processing the news. "I don't know that it's truly settled in yet," said Zinzi. "We're still trying to catch our bearings. Like, literally for any morning, it's so early. But what an insane honor." The director then emphasized the work of the entire cast and crew, and was "so happy that everybody got recognized by their peers."

"I was very impressed by everything that my collaborators were doing every day," said Coogler. "Obviously, I'm biased. I think these folks I work with are some of the best in the world. I feel really fortunate. Because it doesn't always go that way."

In some sense, all the different kinds of work that went into Sinners have been awarded. In addition to Coogler and the main cast's nominations, Sinners was nominated in every craft or tech category. It was also nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter being the number "I Lied to You," performed by Miles Caton, who was also up for Best Supporting Actor.

In an interview with Deadline, Michael B. Jordan shared his own thoughts, describing the "surreal" feeling of being part of a movie that is now surely cemented as a piece of history: "To be a part of a project that will live in cinema history right up there with the movies that have inspired me as an artist — it is really a surreal feeling, and it's a testament to the movie, to every piece of the puzzle that went into making this film."

Jordan is a frequent collaborator of Coogler's, having starred in the filmmaker's movies Fruitvale Station, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Creed. Wunmi Mosaku also reacted, speaking to Deadline, highlighting the "impact" Sinners had by bringing people to the cinema, and praising the "heart" in Coogler's work. Check out her full comments on this below:

I feel like the cultural moment, and impact of the film is [tremendous]. First of all, the way the audience showed up at the cinema feels rare [in this day and age], and people showed up not once, not twice, but three, four and 10 times. I feel like people who know Ryan's work are true believers in his vision, integrity, and heart. He doesn't do anything without heart. Even with his work in the MCU, there's so much heart, representation, love, honesty and truth in there that you can’t help but feel moved by his work.

Mosaku also said that "This is the closest [she has] ever been to a cast and crew in [her] whole career," before talking about her own role. "I have never thought about award season when taking a role. But I just knew from the people I met on that journey that the role would change me," said Mosaku. "I wanted to embrace everything that Annie was because she was so inspirational."

Sinners holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97% and a Metacritic score of 84%, and was previously nominated for seven Golden Globes. It is considered to have been a runaway success at the box office, particularly as an R-rated horror movie, grossing $368 million worldwide. One of its two Golden Globe wins was for Cinematic and Box Office achievement.

While Sinners has broken the Oscars record, it remains to be seen if it will win Best Picture at the ceremony being held on March 15. Regardless, these members of the Sinners team express their happiness at having been a part of this movie and seeing it embraced by so many people.