‘Sinners’ Ryan Coogler Says Record 16 Oscar Noms Is “Pretty Crazy” And “People Showing Up To The Movies And Having A Good Time Is Worth All The Effort”

In California early Thursday morning, Ryan Coogler said he and the Sinners team — his partner in production and in life, Zinzi Coogler, and their longtime co-producer Sev Ohanian — were still taking in the reality of a “pretty crazy” 16 Oscar nominations.

Sinners has broken all previous records with its nominations sweep, beating out historical big Oscar dominators like All About Eve, La La Land and Titanic.

I did not have any expectations when it came to the recognition of what they [the team] did. For me, people just showing up to the movies and having a good time, that would’ve been enough. That is worth all the effort.

Typically horror does not get widely recognized by the Academy. When asked by Deadline what it meant to have his film with some horror elements break that mold, the director said, “I haven’t had a chance to think about it on the genre thought, but as far as pride in what we made and how we made it, I was so thankful that everybody said yes to this movie. My partners included, because I knew that the movie on the surface could be read as very strange. And I say that in the best of ways, because I also really love strange movies. Those are the movies that I always admired. And I always admired the bravery of artists that were able to make movies that were kind of undefinable when it came to genre, and scary movies and movies that went there in any particular way.”

He also acknowledged that, with his filmmaking history including Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, he “was not known for making movies with horror elements. So I knew that it would also be maybe some sticker shock that it was coming from me, but to see how my partners wrapped their arms around it and everybody came down to New Orleans and put their lives on hold for a few months to make this thing and gave it their all, that filled me with just an incredible sense of gratitude. And seeing everybody’s contributions up close, I knew the quality of what people were doing.”

Given the Oscar nominations sweep for Sinners, Coogler added, “I did not have any expectations when it came to the recognition of what they [the team] did. For me, people just showing up to the movies and having a good time, that would’ve been enough. That is worth all the effort. But that people would consider the craft and the achievements that went into it individually. It’s so rewarding.”

To see [Michael B. Jordan] achieve this recognition by his peers, it’s just the best feeling to have.

Speaking alongside the Cooglers, Ohanian said that Sinners’ record number of nominations had not been his only delightful surprise this morning. Ahead of the 5.30AM announcement he received some unexpected visitors at his house. “My doorbell rang at 5:15, ding dong! And it was my mom and my dad and my sister who live nearby. They showed up with a bunch of food and they’re like, ‘Let’s just put the TV on, let’s do this.’ So my wife and I had a chance to see it next to them. It was really lovely.”

But of course there was also time for a little dad joke in there too. “My dad was keeping count next to me. And when he said that, I was like, ‘Dad, you got it wrong. There’s no way it’s that many.’ And he’s been gleefully pointing out how right he was once the articles came out: ‘So you trust the articles, you don’t trust my counting?'”

Another great surprise was Delroy Lindo being recognized in Supporting Actor and Wunmi Mosaku in Supporting Actress.

The Cooglers actually live just down the street from Lindo. “Delroy lives in Oakland,” Ryan Coogler said. “He lives a few minutes away from me and Zinzi, so we got to know him before working with him and we’ll see him around at the post office and stuff. And we’ve obviously become incredibly close with Wunmi. We got really close with her and her family. Our children will play together and we got to know her husband.”

With Michael B. Jordan nominated in best Actor, Coogler also looked back on their longtime collaboration that began ahead of 2013’s Fruitvale Station. “Obviously the three of us have been working with Michael since 2012. So that’s a 14-year relationship. We produced his first directorial debut [Creed III] some years back and have been working with him in every capacity, in every way in between. And he’s been in the business for a couple decades. So to see him achieve this recognition by his peers, it’s just the best feeling to have. We just feel really, really, really happy that they said yes to the project, first of all, and happy for them.”