Tyler Perry has shared that he played a role in helping Ryan Coogler land his groundbreaking ownership deal for Sinners.
The filmmaker opened up about it during the July 20 episode of Kirk Franklin’s Den of Kings podcast, where he joined guests Jeezy and Derrick Hayes. Perry revealed that he personally advised Coogler on the structure of the deal.
Back in April, Coogler told Business Insider that he would fully own the rights to the Michael B. Jordan-led thriller in 25 years, while also securing first-dollar gross points and final cut approval. The film went on to earn over $360 million globally.
“When this deal with Ryan Coogler — everybody’s talking about the Sinners deal. ‘Oh my god, he got this amazing deal,’” Perry said around the 21-minute mark. “Listen, I called that brother up, as I did a lot of them. I called him up after Black Panther and I said, ‘Listen, here is how you do it.’”
Perry went on to say that Coogler’s deal was the same type he secured for his 2005 drama Diary of a Mad Black Woman and that he was thrilled to see Coogler “pull it off.”
“I applaud him, man. I’m excited for him because that’s what it’s about. Holding on to the ownership,” Perry said.
While the roundtable praised Perry for guiding Coogler, his comments drew backlash online, as many pointed out that Coogler himself had never publicly shared those details.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Perry revealed that many Black filmmakers dismissed his efforts to talk to them about ownership. “A lot of them were like, ‘What do you want? You trying to get us to do Madea?’” he said. “Like no, I’m trying to give you the information. So we’re not in a room talking about #OscarsSoWhite. It won’t matter because you’re in power.”
Despite the massive success of Sinners, Ryan Coogler has made it clear he has no plans for a sequel.
In an interview with EBONY, Coogler admitted he “never” thinks about making a Sinners 2. “I’ve been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that,” he explained. “I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me and had an appetite for delivering something to audiences that was original and unique.”
He added that he wanted viewers to feel fully satisfied by the story as it is. “I wanted it to be a holistic and finished thing. That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention,” he said.
