Ryan Coogler’s Post-‘Sinners’ Project Sounds Amazing

It’s hard to even keep track of what Sinners has achieved since its opening weekend debut. One of the best-scored movies in Rotten Tomatoes history, the only horror movie to have an A Cinemascore in 35 years, and the best opening for a wholly original movie in recent memory.

So the question, obviously, is what director Ryan Coogler is going to do next, and it’s not a sequel. It’s probably not something you’d guess in a thousand tries. Coogler has been working on an X-Files reboot for a while, and will now turn his attention back to that project in the wake of Sinners.

“I’ve been excited about that for a long time and I’m fired up to get back to it,” Coogler said on Last Podcast on the Left and says it’s “immediately next” for him. “Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f***ing scary.” So yes, it’s a show, not a movie.

Coogler has an overall deal with Disney, meaning this would likely air on Hulu/Disney Plus, of all places. The show previously ran for nine seasons (and a number of movies) before a two season revival back in 2016. What’s this going to be? It’s not fully clear yet, but it does not seem like a reboot recasting Mulder and Scully. Coogler actually wants Gillian Anderson back, specifically.

“She’s incredible and fingers crossed there. We’re going to try to make something really great, bro, and make something for the real ‘X-Files’ fans and maybe find some new ones.”

He says she seemed open to it but at the time, was filming Tron: Ares. If I had to guess, this will almost certainly work out with Coogler working on this project. Anderson has been in a number of high profile projects over the last few decades, ranging from Sex Education to The Crown to American Gods to Hannibal and more. As for Mulder, David Duchovny, he’s not mentioned in these conversations, for whatever reason. He’s still been working, but in perhaps lower profile projects than her.

It goes without saying that whatever Coogler produces here is likely going to be incredible. The man has not made a bad movie, and in fact, has now made one of the best movies in years, it seems like. This is a new foray into a full-on TV show, but I doubt that makes a difference. My only question is…who is Michael B. Jordan going to play?

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.