WHO should get the SINNERS treatment next?

5 directors I want to see get $100M budgets like Ryan Coogler did, and WHAT they should make

How mind-blowing—an amazing director gets $100 million, makes something personal and thrilling, and knocks it out of the park.

Of course, I’m talking about Ryan Coogler and Sinners, one of the best movies of the year. You can see exactly where that budget went: the costumes, the set, the cast. When I walked out of the theater, I thought, holy hell, I got my money’s worth.

Sinners should pave the way for more directors to tell original stories without needing IP or franchise handcuffs.

Here are five more directors I think should be given the same chance: a $100 million budget, no guardrails, and total creative freedom to let their freak flags fly.

Here are the directors—and the movies they should make:

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When Daniel Goldhaber said that How to Blow Up a Pipeline was inspired by Ocean’s Eleven and The Battle of Algiers, I thought to myself, “Yeah, sure buddy—you and all of us.” But then I saw the movie, and I saw how wondrously Andreas Malm’s manifesto was adapted into a tight, taut thriller. Shot on real locations—104 minutes of pure, edge-of-your-seat adrenaline layered with wailing political directness. I’ve been waiting ever since for Goldhaber to get another film (his Faces of Death—already shot—is stuck in purgatory). He would be at the top of all my lists for any kind of project.

I think he could easily, incredibly adapt IP and make it exciting—but what I really want is for him to get a big budget to make his own movie. What would he make? I think it would have to be crime-related. It would need a built-in ticking clock, considering his references to Ocean’s, Algiers, and Reservoir Dogs as major inspirations. It would exist in a morally gray area that would be absolutely spellbinding.

I know he would shoot on location—which, unfortunately, doesn’t happen as much as it should.

Could he craft a modern-day Traffic-style crime epic? Say less. I would love for him to take his incredibly intimate talents and blast them out on a global, international stage.

What he should make: A morally murky, globe-hopping crime thriller with a ticking-clock structure—shot on real locations—that pulses with political charge.

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Reinaldo Marcus Green has been nothing but box office. His Bob Marley biopic overcame some negative reviews to earn $180 million, more than doubling its budget. King Richard premiered during COVID and was part of HBO Max’s ridiculous day-and-date release strategy, so it didn’t make too much money—but it picked up a slew of awards, was nominated for Best Picture, and won Will Smith a Best Actor Oscar (and won Chris Rock a slap across the face).

And lesser known is that Reinaldo Marcus Green directed all the episodes of one of my favorite shows of the past five years: We Own This City, a brutally realistic crooked cop drama developed by David Simon of The Wire that introduced us to Jon Bernthal’s inimitable Wayne Jenkins.

What Reinaldo Marcus Green does so well is simple—he makes scenarios feel very real. His style is unadorned and direct. His name has been linked to a Punisher TV show starring Bernthal—which, please, no.

What I’d love instead is for him to make a New York City film. Green is a New Yorker through and through. His father is African-American, his mother is Puerto Rican, and he’s from Staten Island. Green worked on Wall Street before enrolling at Tisch. Maybe he makes a period film about the financial industry—set in the ’80s, revamping Wall Street. Or maybe it’s set in the present, where there’s more than enough white-collar shenanigans to spin a yarn from.

Whatever he makes, he’d bring a sense of realism and grit to it—while also making it thrilling.

What he should make: A gritty, present-day New York financial thriller about white-collar crime, told with grounded realism and emotional clarity.

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Edward Berger has been directing for a while, but it feels like he’s really hitting his stride right now. Conclave—whatever you think about its story—was cinematically undeniable, just like All Quiet on the Western Front was. He’s been linked to the Bourne franchise, which I think he’d absolutely crush. But more than that, he’s reached a point where he’s so confident and assured as a director that I’d love to see him work without the guardrails of IP—just making whatever he wants.

Want to know what Berger should make? And which other directors deserve a $100M budget? Upgrade your Schmear Hunter subscription to find out: