If you currently own Michael B. Jordan stock, buy more. Amazon MGM Studios clearly listened, as Jordan’s next directorial effort has a release date.
Per Deadline, the studio is set to release Jordan’s reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affairin theaters and IMAX on March 5, 2027. Jordan directs and stars alongside Taylor Russell in the heist film based on Norman Jewison’s 1968 movie of the same name. The Fall Guy’s Drew Pearce penned the screenplay after Wes Took and Justin Britt-Gibson authored a previous draft. Producers include Jordan, Patrick McCormick, Marc Toberoff, and Elizabeth Raposo. Alan Trustman, who wrote the 1968 film, will executive produce.
Jordan’s version is the third Thomas Crown Affair movie. Jewison’s film starred Steve McQueen as Thomas Crown, a millionaire mastermind, and Faye Dunaway as Vicki Anderson, an independent investigator. After Crown successfully executes a bank robbery, Anderson is tasked with investigating the crime. Anderson suspects Crown might be involved, setting off a cat-and-mouse game that culminates with a romantic affair.
In 1999, John McTiernan directed the remake, which starred Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown and Rene Russo as the investigator. This version had Crown steal a valuable painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Right now, Jordan is red-hot thanks to Sinners. In Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror, Jordan plays Smoke and Stack, identical twins who return home to the Mississippi Delta to open a juke joint for the Black community. After a sinister presence is discovered on opening night, the twins and a few allies will fight to survive until dawn.
Sinners debuted to $48 million domestically in its opening weekend. That’s a terrific start for an original movie with a budget of nearly $100 million. Sinners has been met with universal acclaim, including a perfect five-star review from Digital Trends.
The Thomas Crown Affair marks Jordan’s second directorial effort. The 38-year-old directed and starred in Creed III, the third movie starring Jordan as Adonis Creed.
Director and screenwriter Ryan Coogler has only made five feature films to date, and all five of them have featured Michael B. Jordan. Coogler and Jordan have proven to be a potent pairing, as evidenced by Sinners’ stronger-than-expected performance at the box office over the weekend. That film managed to unseat this year’s current box-office champion, A Minecraft Movie, in its third weekend.
Now that Sinners is well on its way to becoming a hit, it’s time to look back at all five of the Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan collaborations and rank them from worst to best. Somehow, we doubt that Jordan will be able to star in all of Coogler’s subsequent movies. However, this collaboration won’t be ending anytime soon. So far, Coogler and Jordan bring out the best in each other.
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Marvel Studios
Despite his character’s death in the previous movie, Jordan briefly reprised his role as Eric Killmonger in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That sequel is largely a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who passed away from colon cancer in 2020. Since Boseman couldn’t reprise his role as T’Challa, his character was killed off in Wakanda Forever‘s opening scene, leaving his sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright), to mourn for him before assuming his mantle as the new Black Panther.
Jordan makes the most of his appearance as he challenges Shuri about how she’s going to respond to the attack on her family and her nation. It’s clear that even in the afterlife, Killmonger hasn’t changed. And he seems to have awareness of what’s happening on Earth after his death. Shuri may not have wanted to encounter Killmonger on the Ancestral Plane, but his presence did influence her. Jordan’s role is minimal, so Wakanda Forever ranks last on our list of his collaborations with Coogler.
In 2015, Coogler’s Creeddemonstrated a brilliant way to revive the Rocky franchise. The first of three films established that the late Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) had an illegitimate son, Adonis “Donnie” Creed. And Coogler turned to Jordan to bring the character to life.
Because Donnie grew up without his father, he felt the need to follow in Apollo’s footsteps as a boxer. Sylvester Stallone reprised his role as Rocky Balboa, Apollo’s former rival turned friend, who became Donnie’s mentor and trainer in this film. The emotional bond that develops between Donnie and Rocky is compelling and cathartic. There are real emotions in this boxing flick, and it’s a worthy addition to the Rocky films.
For their fifth film together, Coogler decided that the perfect co-star for Jordan was Jordan himself! Sinnersfeatures Jordan as twins Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore, both of whom are World War I veterans and former associates of Chicago gangster Al Capone. In 1932, the Moore brothers are looking to start over by returning to their hometown in Mississippi to open a juke joint.
Because this film has only recently been released, we’re going to refrain from sharing too many spoilers. It’s enough to say that the brothers encounter a supernatural evil that’s more dangerous than anything they’ve dealt with before. Jordan gave two great performances a film that has quickly become one of the few original movies to do very well in 2025.
Sinners is now playing in theaters.
2. Black Panther (2018)
Marvel Studios
Jordan made a huge impression as Eric Killmonger in the first Black Panther by portraying the film’s villain as someone who really saw himself as the hero of the story. Coogler made Killmonger’s backstory more tragic, which went a long way towards getting the audience to sympathize with the bad guy. But this so-called villain also had radical ideas that the most technologically advanced nation on Earth should do more to help the oppressed Black people on the planet. Killmonger intended to use Wakanda’s weapons to lead a global uprising.
Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa was a very thoughtful hero and a great foil for Killmonger. In the end, T’Challa even decides that Killmonger was right about Wakanda’s responsibilities, even if he didn’t share Killmonger’s desire to use violence to achieve his goals. Jordan’s final scene in the film also gave Killmonger a memorable exit from the MCU, so much so that fans clamored for his return. Jordan even reprised his role as Killmonger in Marvel’s What If? animated series.
For his directorial debut, Fruitvale Station, Coogler cast Jordan as Oscar Grant III, a young Black man who was shot and killed in 2009 while he was detained and restrained by transit authorities in Oakland, California. The film follows Grant on the last day of his life as he tries to figure out a way to move forward.
Fruitvale Station doesn’t present Grant as a paragon of virtue, and he’s a complicated guy who has made mistakes. But at no point did Grant do anything to deserve what happened to him. This is a tragic story about a man whose life was ended too soon, and it put both Coogler and Jordan on the map as major players in Hollywood.
It’s been a long climb to stardom for Michael B. Jordan, but the 38-year-old has established himself as one of the premier talents under 40. Jordan showcased his bright future as Wallace on The Wire before parlaying that into more television success on Friday Night Lights and Parenthood. Over the past 15 years, Jordan has transformed from a good television actor to a legitimate movie star.
Jordan has even higher ambitions than just acting, transitioning into a talented producer and emerging director. With the release of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, here are Jordan’s seven best movies.
This list only includes movies where Jordan portrayed the character for the first time. Apologies to the Creed sequels and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
7. That Awkward Moment (2014)
Focus Features
Every great actor needs their rom-com moment. For the Creed star, that came in 2014’s The Awkward Moment, the underrated comedy that featured three rising stars at the time in Jordan, Miles Teller, and Zac Efron. There is an art to picking up girls, and Jason (Efron) owns the playbook. With the help of Daniel (Teller), Jason is a proponent of hookup culture as he seemingly goes home with a new girl every night.
After their best friend Mikey (Jordan) experiences marital problems, the trio agrees to remain single and avoid relationships. As fate would have it, all three guys get involved in relationships, threatening their pact. Is That Awkward Moment formulaic? Sure. However, it’s a bro-com (bromantic comedy) with three handsome, charming leads that will one day become stars in Hollywood. We’ll take that any day of the week.
Rent or buy That Awkward Moment on Apple or Amazon.
6. Chronicle (2012)
20th Century Fox
Before Black Panther, this was Jordan’s initial launch into superhero culture. Shot with a found-footage approach, Chronicle follows Andrew (Dane DeHaan), a disturbed teenager who faces bullying at school and abuse from his father (Michael Kelly) at home. The only positives in Andrew’s life are his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and a video camera.
One day, Andrew, Matt, and popular student Steve Montgomery (Jordan) investigate a giant hole in the woods that popped up overnight. They find a glowing object that gives them superpowers — telekensis and the ability to fly. The trio embrace their newfound powers, but Andrew’s dark side catches up with him, leading to a villianous turn. Considering how overstuffed the superhero genre has become, Chronicle is a fresh and unique approach to a familiar trope.
Speaking of superheroes, Jordan tackles the life of an exemplary individual in Just Mercy, a gripping courtroom drama. Harvard graduate Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) heads to Alabama to help people who cannot afford proper legal representation. Stevenson quickly establishes the Equal Justice Initiative with Eva Ansley (Brie Larson).
One of Stevenson’s first clients is Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), an African American man wrongly sentenced to die for murdering a white 18-year-old girl. While investigating the case, Stevenson uncovers evidence that will free McMillian. However, racism and bureaucratic injustices threaten Stevenson’s fight. With a stoic Jordan at the center and a terrific supporting performance from Foxx, Just Mercy shows what real courage looks like.
The first collaboration between Coogler and Jordan is arguably their most important. In a story that hits home for the Oakland-born Coogler, FruitvaleStation depicts the final day in the life of Oscar Grant (Jordan). The 22-year-old is trying to get his life back on track after his recent release from prison. Grant attempts to gain employment to support his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz) and young daughter (Ariana Neal).
After attending his mother’s birthday party, Oscar boards a train to San Francisco to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks. It would be the last time Oscar would see his mother, as a fateful encounter with police ends his life. Fruitvale Station will sweep you up in a sea of emotions, from rage and hate to sadness and despair. It’s a tragic story treated with such grace and empathy from Coogler, who would go on to become one of Hollywood’s best young directors.
It’s early, but Sinnerseasily vaults to the upper echelon of Jordan’s career. Jordan has always been a star, but Sinners puts him in the rare air where his name, along with Coogler’s, can elevate an original story. Set in the Mississippi Delta during 1932, twins Smoke and Stack (Jordan in dual roles) return home after spending time in Chicago. Smoke and Stack use the money they stole from gangsters to purchase an abandoned mill with plans of setting up a juke joint for the Black community.
Opening night begins as a celebration with booze, music, and good times. The celebration becomes a nightmare after the arrival of Remmick (Jack O’Connell), a vampire with bad intentions. Sinners is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking thanks to Coogler’s direction, a sensational score, and a jaw-dropping musical number that will leave you speechless. It’s a must-see on the biggest screen possible.
Sinners is now in theaters.
2. Black Panther (2018)
Marvel Studios
Several superhero films changed the course of history. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers instantly come to mind. Black Panther earned its spot in that hallowed club. After T’Chaka’s death, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to Wakanda to become the next king and the man who will become the next Black Panther.
Before establishing himself as king, T’Challa faces a challenge from Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (Jordan), his estranged cousin who grew up outside Wakanda and became a black ops mercenary. After Killmonger successfully gains control of Wakanda, T’Challa must rise from the ashes and embrace his destiny to ensure the safety of its people. From the performances and direction to the music and costumes, Black Panther is a true one-of-one that deserved its Best Picture nomination.
Creedshould not have worked. Making Rocky a secondary character in his own franchise was bold. Telling an origin story of Apollo Creed without Creed himself was risky. How many more underdog stories can be told through the eyes of a boxer? Then, you sit down and watch Creed, and all of those fears immediately disappear.
Adonis “Donnie” Johnson (Jordan) never knew his father, Apollo Creed. Like Apollo, Donnie has an affinity towards boxing and wants to be trained by Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). A reluctant Rocky eventually becomes Donnie’s mentor, forming a strong bond in the process. Donnie gets his title shot, but his journey outside of the ring becomes the true opponent. Everyone — Jordan, Stallone, and Coogler — are at the top of their game in this spectacular sports drama that will only get better with time.
Director Ryan Coogler’s (Creed, Black Panther) new blockbuster, Sinners, has finally premiered, bringing a unique vision of vampire horror to cinemas. This horror-action period movie follows two gangster brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return to their hometown in hoping to turn over a new leaf. Unfortunately, their attempts to do so inadvertently attract a gang of vicious vampires who attempt to kill and feed on them and those around them.
Like Coogler’s other films, Sinners is a layered and emotional film with plenty of social commentary. The movie tells a sprawling and brutal story celebrating Black culture while exploring racial oppression through its human and demonic villains. There’s a lot to process in this movie, and now that it’s out in theaters, audiences can finally experience it and its powerful ending.
What’s the story?
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Sinners shows Smoke and Stack returning to their hometown in 1930s Mississippi, where they plan to set up a juke joint out of an old mill using the money they gathered as gangsters in Chicago. As they try to get things ready, Smoke and Stack encounter figures from their past that still haunt them. Smoke reunites with his wife, Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), with whom he had a child who died during infancy. Meanwhile, Stack encounters his ex-girlfriend Mary (Hailee Steinfeld), who’s visiting town for the funeral of her mother, who took care of Smoke and Stack after their father’s death. Though Stack abandoned Mary and she has since married another man, Mary remains bitter over Stack, and they both have lingering feelings for each other.
By the end of the day, Smoke and Stack have hired multiple people in town to help get everything ready for opening night. This includes their cousin, Sammie, who has the power to make music that can conjure spirits from the past and future, as well as attract demons. Thus, when Sammie performs at the packed joint, he inadvertently attracts the evil vampire Remmick (Jack O’Connell), who had appeared at the home of two Ku Klux Klan members and turned them into his vampiric followers.
Following traditional rules, Remmick and his fellow vampires can’t enter Smoke and Stack’s joint without an invitation. To work around this, Remmick turns Mary into a vampire when she goes outside so she can infiltrate the party. Seducing Stack, Mary bites and kills him, turning him into a vampire as well. As the vampires turn more and more people to their side, Smoke and his survivors struggle to survive as paranoia builds. Eventually, when Remmick threatens the life of Grace’s (Li Jun Li) daughter, she angrily invites the vampires in, leading to a massive battle between them and the heroes, with Smoke and Sammie being the only survivors.
How does it end?
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Though Smoke and Sammie succeed in killing Remmick once the sun rises, the former gets into a shootout with members of the Ku Klux Klan, as it was revealed that the man he bought the mill from was a leader of the KKK. Though Smoke is fatally shot, he succeeds in taking the attacking Klan members with him in an explosive and cathartic finale that puts a new spin on The Night of the Living Dead. Smoke also gets to reunite with Annie and their dead infant as he succumbs to his wounds.
At the same time, Sammie appears at his father’s church, where he is ordered to let go of his guitar and abandon his “sinful” musical ways. However, Sammie refuses and becomes a successful musician in the 1990s with a club named after his love interest, Pearline (Jayme Lawson), who died at the juke joint. This all seemed like the perfect place to end the film. But that changes fast.
A mid-credits scene shows Sammie visited by the vampiric Stack and Mary, who survived their battle in Clarksdale, despite Remmick’s death. While it seems like they have come for payback, it was revealed that Smoke spared Stack but made him promise to spare Sammie’s. Though Stack offers to make Sammie a vampire to give him immortality, the latter refuses. However, Sammie does grant Stack’s request to play music for him and Mary before they leave.
What does it all mean?
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
In Sinners, Remmick and his vampires embody the racial oppression directed toward Black people. They also offered Smoke, Stack, and their peers the chance to live an eternal life where they can be loved and treated equally by their fellow vampires. This seemed like a tempting offer for them, but as Stack stated in his final scene, the vampires were never truly free.
Like Sammie, Stack was only happiest just before the vampires had attacked, because he was still with his brother, and they could still go out into the sun. Stack and Mary are still bound to their undead bodies, forced to live their eternal lives in the shadows. But when Sammie plays his guitar for them, they all enjoy that brief sense of freedom his music provided for all at the juke joint.
It’s unknown what will become of Sammie, Stack, or Mary after Sinners. Like one of the Marvel films Coogler famously directed, this mid-credits scene seems to leave the door open for a sequel. At the same time, Sinners left its story on the best possible note for its characters. Sammie got to make a living playing the music he wanted to play, and Stack and Mary got to be together. It’s a tragic, surprising, and incredibly poignant ending that wraps everything up well while still leaving audiences wanting more.
“Sinners is a fantastic and frightening masterpiece from one of cinema’s best, most ambitious directors.”
✅ Pros
Fantastic characters and performances
Outstanding visuals and musical numbers
An incredible score from Ludwig Göransson
A unique blend of genres with Southern folklore
Powerful social commentary
Writer-director Ryan Coogler has unleashed another blockbuster phenomenon with his vampire horror film, Sinners. This story follows twin gangster brothers who return to their hometown in Mississippi in the 1930s, hoping to open a juke joint with the money they gained working for Al Capone. However, their joint’s opening night is ruined when their musical entertainment attracts vampires eager to crash their party and kill everyone there.
Coogler made a bold move by stepping outside the world of IP-based franchises to make Sinners. Ultimately, the director established himself as a cinematic force of nature with this thrilling and terrifying blockbuster. Coogler clearly put his heart and soul into this movie, exploring systemic oppression in America in a refreshingly original vampire story filled with action, terror, and beautiful sights and sounds.
Sinners also features several layered and compelling characters brought to life by such incredible performers. If Coogler focuses on making horror movies from now on, such a decision would be welcome, as Sinners is proof that he knows how to make a frightening and epic blockbuster.
An exceptional band of actors and characters
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Michael B. Jordan delivers a stellar dual performance as brothers Smoke and Stack, with incredible visual effects seamlessly putting them on screen together. Aside from their color-coded costumes, Jordan and the film give each of these brothers enough distinguished traits to make it easy to tell them apart. Jordan also projects enough confidence, menace, and empathy with both characters to make them fearsome and sympathetic antiheroes.
On top of that, Sinners populates its world with plenty of life as Smoke and Stack assemble characters to help out at their juke joint like they’re assembling the Avengers. Each character presents a rich backstory in such little time, making it easy for audiences to empathize and connect with them, which makes seeing them bite the dust even harder.
These supporting players are also elevated by the actors portraying them. Miles Caton is a revelation as the blues-singing Sammie, who has a voice that moves mountains and makes movie magic. Hailee Steinfeld strikes the right balance of confidence and vulnerability in her performance as Mary. Delroy Lindo brings plenty of pathos and fiery comic relief as Delta Slim. Finally, Jack O’Connell plays the vampire Remmick perfectly as the devilishly charismatic villain that everyone knows they should fear but is nevertheless compelling.
A visual and musical marvel
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
In his second collaboration with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Ryan Coogler paints a vast and immersive portrait of 1930s Mississippi fitting for this epic blockbuster. Sinners delivers several breathtaking visuals captured on both Ultra Panavision 70mm and 15-perf 70mm IMAX cameras. Each frame of this film captures its world with such scope, detail, and beauty that not witnessing it all in a theater would feel like a sin to cinephiles.
The movie’s various musical numbers also make it a remarkable new addition to the horror genre as a whole. The film reaches a crescendo when Sammie’s music summons spirits from the past and future to play and dance with, assembling styles and instruments from different generations in an incredible long take that turns Sinners into a mind-blowing, cinematic orchestra. At the same time, composer Ludwig Göransson makes the film even more immersive with another outstanding original score.
A creative and distinctive social horror story
Warner Bros. Pictures / Warner Bros. Pictures
Given the countless vampire stories that have been made over the years, Sinners could’ve been just another addition to the genre. Sinners does feature elements that harken back to Salem’s Lot, Night of the Living Dead, The Thing, and From Dusk Till Dawn. However, Coogler presents a fresh new take on classic vampires with his film, utilizing Southern folklore and setting the story in the Jim Crow-era South with plenty of blood-pumping action and frightening scares to keep audiences’ eyes glued to the screen.
Sinners also makes room to send some powerful messages about prejudice and race relations in America, with the Ku Klux Klan’s hanging over this movie until its explosive finale. On the other hand, Coogler cleverly uses vampires as symbols of the suppression of Black people and culture, as they try to steal Sammie’s music and kill and assimilate everyone at the juke joint. However, by tempting its characters with the promise of eternal life filled with “love and fellowship,” Remmick and his vampire cohort are a perfect, well-rounded contrast to the lead duo, who seek to build a new life for themselves in a country that seems determined to tear them down.
Is Sinners worth a watch?
Sinners | Official Trailer
Absolutely. Sinners is the coolest horror movie of the decade. Ryan Coogler may have become a household name by directing films based on existing properties, including Creed and Black Panther. However, with his incredible new vampire movie, Coogler has established himself as one of the most ambitious and inventive directors of modern cinema. Here’s hoping that Sinners will result in even more original projects by Coogler.
