A filmmaker would be lucky to make a movie that transcends boundaries and becomes a cultural touchstone. Ryan Coogler has made at least two. Seven years after his blockbuster Marvel superhero movie Black Panther shattered expectations and set new benchmarks for the genre — it became the first superhero film ever to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar — Coogler's latest film, Sinners, has established itself among the highest-regarded horror movies ever made. Starring his longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan, Sinnersopened to near-unanimous praise some weeks ago, and has been delivering exceptional results at the box office. The movie's success has pushed Coogler up the list of the highest-grossing directors of all times.

Coogler's five movies have generated nearly $1.5 billion at the domestic box office, for a per-movie average of around $300 million. His highest-grossing film remains the first Black Panther, which grossed $700 million domestically in 2018 — interestingly, this is a higher lifetime...