Jan 24, 2026
Ryan Coogler Career Summary:
My Oscar Book:
Occupational Inheritance: No
Birth: 1986
Social Class: Middle, His mother community organizer, father, juvenile hall probation counselor.
Nationality: Black
Education: Saint Mary’s College of California, Moraga
Training: USC
First Film: Fruitvake Station, 2013; age 27
First Oscar Nomination: Black Panther, Best Picture nom, 2018
Other Nominations: Sinners, 2025, Best Director, Producer; age 38
Genre (specialties): Marvel, horror
Collaborators: Actor Michael B. Jordan
Last Film:
Contract:
Career Output: 5 features in 12 years
Career Span: 2013-present
Marriage: Yes (producer)
Politics:
Retirement: NA
Death: NA
Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) has received ten NAACP Image Awards, four Black Reel Awards, and has been nominated for 5 Oscars and 3 Grammys.
Coogler directed short films at the USC School of Cinematic Arts before his feature debut with Fruitvale Station (2013).
He then transitioned to directing and writing franchise films such as the Rocky series spinoff, Creed (2015), as well as the Marvel films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
Coogler also produced the historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) and the supernatural horror film Sinners (2025), which he also wrote and directed. He received Oscar nominations for Best Picture for both films, while for Sinners he was also nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
In 2013, he was included on Time’s list of the 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. In 2018, Coogler was named the runner-up of Time’s Person of the Year and was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.
In 2021, Coogler, his wife Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian founded multimedia production company Proximity Media
Early life
Coogler was born in Oakland, California. His mother, Joselyn, is a community organizer, and his father, Ira Coogler, is a juvenile hall probation counselor. Both parents graduated from California State University, Hayward. He has two brothers, Noah and Keenan.
His uncle, Clarence Thomas, is a third-generation Oakland longshoreman, and former secretary treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Coogler was raised Baptist, and attended Catholic schools.
Coogler lived in Oakland until age 8, when the family moved to Richmond, California. During his youth, he ran track and played football. He went to a private Catholic high school, Saint Mary’s College High School in Albany, California, and did well in math and science.
After high school, Coogler attended Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, CA on a football scholarship as a redshirt wide receiver his college freshman semester, intending to major in chemistry. The football players were encouraged to take a creative writing course. Coogler’s teacher praised his work, noting that it was very visual, and encouraged him to learn screenwriting.
As a student athlete coming up in the Bay Area, Coogler befriended and often played against NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.
After Saint Mary’s College of California canceled its football program in March 2004, Coogler transferred and earned a scholarship to Sacramento State, where he had 112 receptions for 1,213 yards and 6 touchdowns during his four years playing football. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance in 2007. He then entered a three-year master’s program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he made a series of short films, graduating with an MFA in film in 2011.
Career
When attending CSU Sacramento, Coogler worked on a few short films that were titled “Story of a Dollar” and “Eyes Like Mine”.
While at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Coogler directed four short films, three of which won or were nominated for various awards.
Locks (2009) screened at the Tribeca Film Fest and won the Dana and Albert Broccoli Award for Filmmaking Excellence. Fig (2011), written by Alex George Pickering, won the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival, the DGA Student Film Award, and was nominated for Outstanding Independent Short Film at the Black Reel Awards. Gap (2011), written by Carol Lashof, won the Jack Nicholson Award for Achievement in Directing. In January 2013, Coogler said he was working on a graphic novel and young adult novel about an undisclosed subject matter.
In 2013, Coogler wrote and directed his first feature-length film, Fruitvale Station (originally titled Fruitvale), which told the story of the last 24 hours of the life of Oscar Grant (played by Michael B. Jordan), who was shot to death by a police officer at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station on January 1, 2009.
Produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, the film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Fest, where it won the top Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic competition.
It was released in theatres on July 20, 2013. Made on a budget of $900,000, the film grossed over $17 million worldwide after its theatrical run.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Fruitvale Station “a gut punch of a movie” and “unstoppable cinematic force”. A. O. Scott wrote that Coogler’s “hand-held shooting style evokes the spiritually alert naturalism of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne”. McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called it “a compelling debut” and “a powerful dramatic feature film.” On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 94% based on 195 reviews, with a critical consensus that reads: “Passionate and powerfully acted, Fruitvale Station serves as a celebration of life, a condemnation of death, and a triumph for star Michael B. Jordan.” Ann Hornaday compliments Coogler’s artistic control of not showing biased or vilifying others in Fruitvale Station, but focusing on reflecting on the history of events the film is based on. The film appeared on several critics’ top ten lists of the best films of 2013.
In 2015, Coogler released his second film, Creed, a spin-off of the Rocky films, which Coogler directed and co-wrote with Aaron Covington. The film starred Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed’s son Donnie, who is trained and mentored by his father’s old friend and former rival Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone. It received critical acclaim from critics and audiences and grossed over $173 million worldwide. Among its accolades, Stallone won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor, and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
Coogler served as exec producer on the ESPN 30 for 30 film The Day the Series Stopped, about Game Three of the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, when the Loma Prieta earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core.
In 2018, Coogler co-wrote and directed the Marvel film Black Panther, making him the first African-American Marvel Studios director.
The film starred Chadwick Boseman as the titular character, who is crowned king of Wakanda following his father’s death, but is challenged by his cousin, Erik Killmonger (played by Michael B. Jordan), who plans to abandon the country’s isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
Upon release, Black Panther grossed $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, becoming the highest-grossing film directed by an African-American director, the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2018. Black Panther received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus reads, “Black Panther elevates superhero cinema to thrilling new heights while telling one of the MCU’s most absorbing stories—and introducing some of its most fully realized characters.”
The film was also noted for its representation of African Americans and subject matter related to Afrofuturism. The film was nominated for 7 awards at the 91st Oscars, winning 3, and received numerous other accolades. Black Panther is the first superhero film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, and the first MCU film to win several categories (those being for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Original Score).
In 2021, Coogler served as a co-producer alongside Charles D. King and Shaka King on the Fred Hampton biopic Judas and the Black Messiah, directed by Shaka King, which focused on the betrayal of Hampton (played by Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in late-1960s Chicago, by William O’Neal (played by LaKeith Stanfield). The film received critical acclaim and received 6 nominations at the 93rd Oscars, and earned Coogler, Shaka King and Charles D. King a nomination for Best Picture, the first for an African-American producing team.
Also in 2021, Coogler served as co-writer and producer on Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James. The film received generally negative reviews and was a financial failure, grossing $163 million worldwide on a budget of $150 million. One of the negative reviews previously mentioned comes from Rotten Tomatoes, in which the general consensus was that Space Jam: A New Legacy could not live up to the original Space Jam, even with any effort from Lebron James’ humor and acting.
Coogler returned to direct and co-write the Black Panther sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was released in the United States on November 11, 2022. It was a critical and commercial success, being nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one. Coogler served as an executive producer on Creed II, and wrote the story outline and served as a producer on Creed III.
Coogler collaborated with Jordan for a fifth time on Sinners, a supernatural horror film, which was released in April 2025. It received critical acclaim. Autumn Durald Arkapaw, working alongside Ryan Coogler, shot a substantial share of the Imax sequences — about 20 percent of the film — with IMAX MSM 9802 cameras and 50mm and 80mm Panavision lenses that had been originally custom-designed for Nolan and Van Hoytema on Oppenheime. Coogler negotiated an unprecedented deal with Warner for the film, which included a provision for full ownership reversion 25 years after the film’s release, granting him control over future licensing, royalties, and sequels. The agreement granted Coogler first-dollar gross participation (earning a percentage of box office revenue immediately) and final cut privileges, ensuring creative control. Coogler cited the film’s themes of Black ownership and familial legacy—drawing inspiration from his Mississippi-born grandfather’s experiences as motivations for the ownership clause. The deal challenged traditional studio models, with outlets like Variety questioning its profitability.
Proximity and Coogler co-produced the Marvel series Ironheart (2025) for Disney+ starring Dominique Thorne, who had debuted as the titular character in Wakanda Forever.
In February 2021, Coogler’s production company Proximity Media signed an exclusive five-year deal with Disney to produce content for them, which includes a Disney+ television series based in Black Panther’s home country of Wakanda. The new Disney+ television series has been titled Eyes of Wakanda and was released on August 1, 2025.
In November 2024, Denzel Washington stated that Coogler has a role for him in Black Panther 3. In November 2025, Coogler confirmed that Black Panther 3 would be his next feature film following Sinners.
Coogler is currently developing a new reboot of the TV series The X-Files. In April 2025, Coogler said the X-Files reboot would be his next project after Sinners, and he began working on the project by October of that year; Coogler said that he chose to work on the project due to his mother’s love for the original series.
Black Panther (2018) broke numerous box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time by an African American director.
Many of Coogler’s films have received widespread acclaim and commercial success. His work has been hailed by critics for centering on often overlooked cultures and characters—most notably African Americans.
He frequently collaborates with actor Michael B. Jordan and composer Ludwig Göransson, who have, respectively, appeared in and composed all of his films.
Coogler has worked since age 21 as a counselor with incarcerated youth at San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall, following in the footsteps of his father, who has long shared the same occupation.
Coogler is also a founding memberand supporter of the Blackout For Human Rights campaign, which is committed to addressing racial and human rights violations happening throughout the US.
In 2016, Coogler married Zinzi Evans, with whom he has 3 children. The two had known each other since early teens and began dating during undergraduate years at Saint Mary’s College of California. Evans has Mississippi Delta Chinese ancestry through her father, and the discovery of this heritage inspired Coogler to include the Mississippi Delta Chinese community in Sinners.
Filmography
2013 Fruitvale Station
2015 Creed
2018 Black Panther
2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2025 Sinners
As writer and/or producer
2018 Creed II No Executive
2021 Homeroom Executive
Judas and the Black Messiah
Space Jam: A New Legacy Uncredited
2023 Creed III, Story
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Short films
2009, also actor and sound editor
2011 Fig; The Sculptor
Other credits
2009 On the Grind Camera operator Documentary short
2010 Get Some Boom operator, sound editor and sound mixer Short film
2012 It’s Just Art, Baby Camera operator and grip
2020 Soul Special thanks
Television
2014 The Day the Series Stopped Yes No TV movie
2021 What If…? No Yes Episode: “What If… T’Challa Became a Star-Lord?”; creative consultant
2025 Ironheart Yes No Miniseries; 6 episodes
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time Yes No Miniseries; 5 episodes
Eyes of Wakanda Yes Yes Miniseries; 4 episodes; developer
Marvel Zombies No Yes Miniseries; 4 episodes; creative consultant
Reception of Films
2013 Fruitvale Station 94% (216 reviews), $900,000, $16,101,339 $1,284,491 $17,385,830
2015 Creed 95% (315 reviews), $40,000,000 $109,767,581 $64,400,000 $174,167,581
2018 Black Panther 96% (532 reviews), $200,000,000 $700,059,566 $649,499,517 $1,349,926,083
2022 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 84% (448 reviews) $250,000,000 $453,829,060 $405,379,776 $859,208,836
2025 Sinners 97% (414 reviews) 84, $100,000,000 $278,578,513 $87,300,000 $365,878,513
Total $590,900,000 $1,558,336,059 $1,207,863,784 $2,766,566,843
