Ryan Coogler's Feature Film Directorial Debut and Breakthrough
Ryan Coogler's first feature film was the independent drama Fruitvale Station, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. The film, produced by Forest Whitaker and released by The Weinstein Company, grossed $17.5 million worldwide against a $900,000 budget, according to Forbes. It is a biographical account of the fatal 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California.
Coogler's second feature, Rocky spin-off Creed, was released in 2015 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. Pictures. The film, starring Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, earned $173.3 million globally and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Sylvester Stallone. Creed was produced by Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, and Kevin King Templeton, with Coogler co-writing the screenplay with Aaron Covington.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe Blockbusters
Ryan Coogler directed Black Panther, which was released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in February 2018. The film became the highest-grossing film ever directed by a Black filmmaker, earning $1.347 billion worldwide and receiving seven Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Original Score and Best Costume Design. Black Panther was produced by Kevin Feige and Jonathan Schwartz, with Coogler co-writing the story with Joe Robert Cole.
He returned to direct the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, released in November 2022 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film grossed $859.2 million globally and was dedicated to the memory of lead actor Chadwick Boseman. Wakanda Forever was produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, with a screenplay by Coogler, Joe Robert Cole, and Jennifer Kahnwald, and was the first MCU film to be shot under a revised production schedule following Boseman's passing.
Ryan Coogler's Recent and Upcoming Projects
Coogler directed the action film Sinners, which was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in April 2025. The film, starring Michael B. Jordan, marks Coogler's first original screenplay and his return to Warner Bros. after his previous MCU projects. Sinners was produced by Ryan Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Michael B. Jordan, with financing and distribution handled by Warner Bros. Pictures under a first-look deal with his production company, Proximity Media.
Proximity Media, founded by Coogler, has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures to develop film and television projects. The company is currently developing several projects, including a biopic about boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and adaptations of other true-crime stories. Coogler's production slate focuses on original storytelling and diverse voices, with Forbes reporting that the deal includes both theatrical and streaming content for the Warner Bros