UPDATED 1/23, 9 p.m. ET: Sony, Warner Brothers, and Universal are reportedly fighting to secure the fourth feature collaboration from Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler.
As reported by Deadline, the film is a "period genre film that is a true star vehicle for Jordan."
The actor and director previously linked up on 2013's Fruitvale Station, 2015's Creed, and 2018's Black Panther, plus an MBJ cameo in 2022's Wakanda Forever. Sources told Deadline the new film's budget is in the $90 million range, with stakes including a potential co-ownership of the IP.
"It’s rare to see that the most often-mentioned combatants here are traditional studios and not streamers," Deadline writes, adding that the auction should be decided "soon."
See original story below.
Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler have something big up their sleeves.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor-director duo are teaming up on a feature-length film from Coogler’s production company, Proximity Media. The project will mark 36-year-old Jordan and 37-year-old Coogler’s fourth movie together, following Fruitvale Station (2013), Creed (2015), and Black Panther (2018). Jordan also made a brief cameo in Coogler’s 2022 Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever.
Details remain scarce at this time; however, sources tell THR that the project will be a Jordan-starring “genre” feature with “a period element.” Coogler wrote the film (his first original spec script since Fruitvale Station) and will take on producer and director roles.
Insiders said Coogler is going to great lengths to keep the detail under wraps—so much so that he required industry executives and potential buyers to travel to the WME office to see the script. (WME represents Coogler and Jordan along with M88.)
Coogler reportedly held his first round of meetings last week, and is aiming for a production commitment sometime in the next several days.
During the promotional run for the first Black Panther, Coogler reflected on his connection with Jordan and why he’s always happy to reunite with him.
“It’s hard work making movies, and when you find somebody you enjoy working with, there’s a part of you that wants to keep doing it, especially when you find somebody who’s really talented," he told MTV News.
The feeling was clearly mutual. Jordan told the outlet that watching Coogler work is what ultimately inspired him to get in the director’s chair. He made his directorial debut with 2023’s Creed III, in which he reprised his role as Adonis Creed.
“[Coogler is] the reason why I have the self-confidence to go out there and do it behind the camera,” Jordan told the outlet. “To see somebody my age taking care of however many hundreds of millions of dollars this [movie] is, it’s inspiring. It lets me know that I can do that, as well.”
Below, rewind back to ComplexCon 2018 to see Coogler and Jordan talking about their work together up to that point.
