As ‘Sinners’ Tops ‘Gravity,' Thoughts on Warner Bros.' Divorce From Discovery
That WB might soon no longer be anchored down by Discovery (and as much of Discovery's debt) also means it may be less able to roll the dice on less surefire movies.
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners has now earned $274.02 million in domestic gross. Barring a fluke, the R-rated, over/under $95 million original vampire flick will earn enough today to surpass the unadjusted $274.1 million domestic total of Alfonso Cuaron’s Oscar-winning Gravity. This will make it the top-grossing live-action original since Chris Nolan’s Inception ($293 million) in the summer of 2010. Once it surpasses Todd Phillips’ The Hangover ($277 million in 2009) in the next week or two, it will rank behind only Inception as the second-biggest live-action original since James Cameron’s $760 million-grossing Avatar in 2009.
Among live-action originals, it looks to end (barring reissues or award season boosts) between Home Alone ($285 million in 1990) and both Inception and The Sixth Sense ($294 million in 1999). Adjusted for inflation, it has sold more tickets for a live-action original in North America since Gravity ($274 million in 2013, $383 million adjusted) and Ted ($212 million in 2012, $310 million adjusted). Notably, Sinners, Gravity, The Hangover and Inception, along with San Andreas ($475 million globally in 2015, the last live-action original to reach anywhere near $500 million worldwide), were released by Warner Bros.
I’m of two minds about the “Warner Bros. being split from Discovery” news. Granted, it’s closer to “WB’s film, TV and streaming ecosystem will no longer be tied down to the declining linear TV business.” Digression: News networks like CNN shouldn’t be expected to generate profits when operating within conglomerates. Beyond most of the debt from the initial 2022 merger being placed upon “WBD Global Networks” instead of “WBD Streaming & Studios,” this arguably has at least the potential to free up Warner Bros.’ movie and TV studios to thrive or fail on the strength of their product more explicitly.