Ryan Coogler has dazzled audiences with big-budget Marvel movies (the "Black Panther" franchise), introduced a new generation to the Rocky Balboa saga ( "Creed," "Creed II"), and painted a devastatingly human portrait of a real-life tragedy ("Fruitvale Station"), but his newest film unlocks his true potential.

Coogler's fifth feature, "Sinners," marks the first time the director is working with a completely original concept, and it's an ambitious, genre-hopping ride worthy of all the early praise (the film has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes as of publication).

The film, which Coogler also wrote, tells the story of identical twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan), who leave their posts as muscle in the 1930s Chicago underworld and return to their home state of Mississippi to run a juke joint. Everything is going according to plan on opening night, with top-notch blues musicians and smooth tasting hooch, until a trio of vampires shows up and turns everything upside down.

But even as the movie veers sharply from period piece to vampire flick (blood-sucking included), in Coogler's hands, "Sinners" is more than a thrilling genre movie. With eye-popping cinematography of the Mississippi Delta, a moving score from Coogler's longtime collaborator Ludwig Göransson, and subplots focusing on religion and the generational influence of the blues, "Sinners" is chock-full of well-executed big ideas. It's Hollywood filmmaking on an epic scale — and the secret sauce is that it's grounded in a personal, heartfelt story.

In the latest interview in Business Insider's "Director's Chair" series, Coogler discusses how the project came to be, what led to the movie's memorable music sequence, and what motivated him to make a deal with Warner Bros. so he'll one day own the rights to "Sinners."

Business Insider: You've spoken about "Sinners" being a love letter to your grandfather and uncle. How did you go from celebrating family to vampires and the blues?

Ryan Coogler: I never knew my grandfather. He died shortly after my parents got married. He was from Mississippi. Born there, raised there. Then he moved to Oakland and married my grandmother who was from Texas. My grandmother had two little sisters and one of her younger sisters married a man who was from Mississippi, a different part, and that was my Uncle James.

My Uncle James, for a large portion of my life, was the oldest male member of my family. What he loved to do was three things: listening to Delta Blues music, he loved drinking all types of whiskey, and he loved the San Francisco Giants, watching them on TV and listening to them on the radio. So if you went and spent time with him he was doing one or all three of those things.

I loved my uncle. I associate that music with him. He passed away in 2015, and after that, I oftentimes found myself playing blues records to remind myself of him. And that act of listening to that music and feeling he was there with me is kind of what inspired the period setting and the blues. And that is why the movie is so personal. 

It's so personal, in fact, that you made a deal with Warner Bros. to get the rights to the film in 25 years. The reason for that is because this is a story of what Smoke and Stack do at the start of the movie — open a juke joint in the Jim Crow South. The idea of Black ownership motivated you, correct?

Yeah. That was the reason for that ask. That was actually the only motivation.

Do you have the rights to any of your other movies? Is this a first time for you?

No. It's the first time.

Do you want to continue owning the rights to your movies going forward?

No. It was this specific project.

One of the movie's most memorable moments is a sequence where everyone is dancing in the juke joint, and suddenly, past, present, and future musical influences of the blues appear — a guitarist playing an electric guitar, a DJ on turntables, ancient chants. How long had you been thinking about doing that?

It was in the original script, but the specifics of it, the nature of it, I came up with while I was writing. So it existed in every form of the screenplay but it was a concept that came to be. Like, it wasn't in the outline. I was writing the script, and I was listening to the music, trying to conjure a time, and thinking how I would use that music. I would think about my uncle and wonder what my uncle was thinking of when he was listening to it. 

Was that sequence always ambitious from the start?

The ambition evolved as I was researching it and digging into it. I realized the epic nature of the story as I researched it. At first, I thought it was small. As I researched and dug into blues music and how it was developed and why, when I got to Mississippi and stood on some plantations, that's where the form was born. These people whose parents were enslaved and were living in back-breaking societal conditions created an art form that was so incredible that it transcended the planet. We are still making incarnations of that music. And so my mind kind of blew up and I saw the movie showing that creation. 

There was a report that the post-production process on "Sinners" was longer than usual because you shot on film and there aren't many film labs left.

That's not the whole reason. We wanted to make film prints but we also wanted to make the movie in the best way possible. We actually did this fast. 

Are you concerned about shooting on film going forward? There are definitely fewer labs than there were 10 or even five years ago.

There are enough filmmakers who believe in the format that I have faith. I actually hope there's a resurgence. My first movie, "Fruitvale Station," was shot on film. It was shot on Super 16mm, so the format has always mattered to me. And I was so happy to get back to it. But with the epic nature of the story, I was also happy to shoot large format. 

I was going to ask about shooting on IMAX. Was that something you thought about doing back in the script stage?

No. When I first came up with the concept of "Sinners" I thought we were going to shoot it on Super 16mm. I thought it was going to be a down-and-dirty movie. 

Oh, so originally "Sinners" had a grimy, dirty South feel?

Exactly, bro. But this was before I went to Mississippi and really learned about the story I was telling. During that time I realized the story has to be epic and mythic. That's when an executive at Warner Bros. reached out and asked if I considered large format. And he was asking from a business sense, seeing how complicated it's become to convince folks to come out of their house and watch something that's original. So he was thinking about it from that side. But as soon as he said that, it unlocked something in me. It was the missing link to what the movie needed. 

I mean, America is a fucking beautiful landscape. It's gorgeous, and the natural landscapes totally dictate the people you are interacting with. The Mississippi Delta felt that way. It is the single most African place I've ever been to that wasn't Africa in terms of the feeling that I had. The epic feel of that flat pastoral landscape. You stand in some of the places in the Delta and it's so flat you felt you could see the Earth bending on the horizon. 

Are you hooked on shooting on IMAX cameras going forward?

I loved the experience. I think it's something I could see myself definitely doing in the future. It's incredibly addictive.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

"Sinners" is in theaters now.

Four people were killed when a cable car crashed to the ground near Naples, Italy, on Thursday.

• Many US residents don't have to travel far to see gorgeous waterfalls.
• From New York to Alaska and beyond, plenty of states have cascades worth visiting.
• Some are easily accessible, but others require a trek.

Waterfalls are one of nature's most awe-inspiring sights. The sound of pounding water, the feel of mist, and the visual of cascading water all combine for an unforgettable experience.

The US has some amazing cascades, from New York to Alaska to Tennessee.

These natural marvels can draw millions of visitors a year, propping up local economies. Visitor spending in Niagara County, New York, which is home to Niagara Falls, reached a record high of $1.082 billion in 2023, according to data from Tourism Economics.

However, not all of the country's most beautiful waterfalls are major tourist attractions. Some require arduous hikes that reward visitors with picturesque views. Others are visible from the roadside, perfect for snapping unforgettable photos without much effort.

Here are 17 of the US's most jaw-dropping waterfalls.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix last week, Formula 1 heads to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hails Iran's armed forces 'strength, preparedness' during annual Army Day parade.

Tom Homan defended the handling of the case after the White House acknowledged the deportation was an error.

"Sinners" features two post-credits scenes that expand its vampire mythology. One reveals character fates, the other hints at a sequel.

The discovery of Kiwi the kitten brought an end to a missing cat mystery that had gone an astonishing 18 months unsolved.

Two top Israeli officials had an unannounced meeting in Paris on Friday with White House envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, three Israeli sources familiar with the meeting tell Axios.

Why it matters: Ron Dermer and David Barnea, Israel's strategic affairs minister and the director of the Mossad intelligence agency, slipped into Paris for the low-profile meeting with Witkoff to try to influence the U.S. position ahead of the second round of talks in Rome on Saturday, the officials said.

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• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned the U.S. will reach a deal with Iran that's similar to the one the Obama administration signed in 2015, and President Trump himself abandoned.
• The Israeli Prime Minister's Office and a spokesperson for Witkoff declined to comment.
• Witkoff was in Paris for meetings on Russia and Ukraine before traveling to Rome for the Iran talks.

Between the lines: During those meetings, Witkoff stressed that the Trump administration's goal on Iran is to resolve the nuclear crisis with through diplomatic means and ensure Iran will no longer enrich uranium.

• Netanyahu and other hawks want a deal to eliminate Iran's nuclear program entirely — or else a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
• Trump, who initially set a two-month deadline for the negotiations, said on Thursday that he is in no rush to move forward with a military strike because he believes Iran "wants to talk."

The other side: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Witkoff's counterpart in the talks, will arrive in Rome on Friday after a visit to Moscow, during which he met with President Vladimir Putin and discussed the negotiations with the U.S.

• Although Russia is not directly involved in the talks, the Iranians are seeking Russian support, including potentially to press their case with Trump. "We hope Russia will play a role in a possible deal," Araghchi said Friday.
• Araghchi added that the U.S. showed seriousness in the first round of talks, but said Iran hears "conflicting messages" from the U.S. in public and in private. "What's said at the negotiating table is what matters," he stressed.
• Araghchi added that a deal can be reached if the U.S. doesn't present "unrealistic demands." One of those demands, Araghchi said, was that Iran completely halt uranium enrichment.

What to watch: The second round of talks on Saturday will be held at the Omani embassy in Rome. They are expected to start around 5am ET and last at least five hours.

• The U.S. wants the second round of talks to end with a framework for the next steps in the negotiations.

Go deeper: Trump team's stark Iran divide

• A Utah family is suing Southwest Airlines, saying their young son was burned by a hot coffee.
• They claimed the flight attendants were unapologetic and unsure how to treat his injuries.
• The four-year-old has since had difficulties sitting and missed weeks of preschool.

Southwest Airlines is being sued by a couple who say their young son suffered second-degree burns after hot coffee was spilled on him during a flight.

Ryan and Kamrie Wong filed the lawsuit in Chicago on Wednesday. Reuters reported that their son, known as K.W. in the suit, is four years old.

The family was flying from Orlando to Chicago last September when a Southwest flight attendant was "precariously" carrying a drinks tray with one arm, the suit stated.

It adds that a coffee then spilled on the boy, who screamed, "It's so hot!"

The child was crying and screaming, suffering second-degree burns to his buttocks, per the suit.

It also claimed that the flight attendants were unapologetic and unsure how to treat the boy's injuries.

"K.W. was in significant, visible, and vocal pain and distress throughout the rest of the flight," the complaint added.

After landing in Chicago, the family then had to wait for another flight to Utah, where they live.

The lawsuit says a Southwest gate agent made the situation worse by placing K.W. directly on his buttocks, which caused one of his burn blisters to burst.

Among other activities, the complaint adds that K.W. has had difficulties sitting in his car seat, using the bathroom, and getting dressed since the incident.

The boy is said to have missed about two weeks of preschool due to the pain and treatment for his burns.

"When K.W. did return to school, he struggled to sit for extended periods of time," the suit stated.

The Wongs accused Southwest Airlines of negligence and were seeking unspecified damages in excess of $75,000.

Southwest told Business Insider it did not comment on pending litigation.

• Google just upgraded its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5.
• Flash is an AI model that allows you to give it a "thinking budget."
• Developers can now calibrate how much thinking Google's Gemini model does for any task.

Google just rolled out an upgraded version of its latest AI model, with a new feature letting you "turn thinking on or off."

On Thursday, the tech giant rolled out an early version of Gemini 2.5 Flash, an updated version of the 2.5 model it released in March.

That model — a so-called "thinking" model — was dubbed Google's most intelligent one to date, given its ability to reason through ideas before responding.

However, Google is now ready to let you choose how much this new model thinks. And if you really want to, you can tell it to stop thinking completely.

In a blog post, Google Gemini's director of product management, Tulsee Doshi, said that developers can "set thinking budgets to find the right tradeoff between quality, cost, and latency."

The new feature aims to address the intense processing and computing requirements of a new wave of "reasoning" models that have spurred interest across the AI industry, including OpenAI's o3, released on Wednesday.

Google's new model aims to ensure that its reasoning model uses only as much processing power as necessary and applies it only when needed.

Doshi noted that not all tasks require the same reasoning. For example, the reasoning needed to answer "How many provinces does Canada have?" is different from asking AI to calculate the maximum bending stress on a cantilever beam of particular dimensions, she said.

To allocate different levels of reasoning abilities to user queries, Google will allow developers to set a "thinking budget" that Doshi said will offer "fine-grained control" over the number of tokens — units of data — a model generates while operating.

The move to introduce a "thinking budget" also follows a wider shift in the industry to become more "efficient" in the use of computing power.

This followed the release of a reasoning model in January from Chinese startup DeepSeek that claimed to use less computing power.

"We're not going to continue to fly all over the world and do meeting after meeting after meeting if no progress is being made," said Marco Rubio.

"The way she RAN to you. She knew she found her home," one user said in the comments.

• About seven years ago, I moved from one of the cloudiest US cities to one of the sunniest — Reno.
• Instead of only spending half of my year in the sun, I spend around 70% of it basking in sunshine.
• I miss living near family, but the pleasant year-round outdoor lifestyle I have now is hard to beat.

In 2018, I moved from Youngstown, Ohio — one of the cloudiest cities in the US — to Reno, Nevada — one of the sunniest.

Whereas my hometown of Youngstown averages about 200 days of cloudy skies each year, Reno averages over 250 days of sunshine.

Moving across the country for graduate school was an exciting new start, and I couldn't wait to leave Ohio's dark, gray skies behind.

At the time, I was still a bit hesitant to leave my friends and family in the Midwest, but I hoped moving to a sunny climate would be a major lifestyle boost.

It was. Although I miss some parts of living in Ohio, I'm still based in Reno seven years later.

The sun is almost always shining in Reno — and the city still experiences all 4 seasons

Reno is regularly ranked among the top sunniest cities in the United States. The city, located in a high desert valley, typically sees sunny skies for the majority of the year.

During my first few months in Reno, I was shocked by how consistently I experienced sunshine and clear skies. The sky shined a vibrant shade of blue nearly every day — I had never seen such predictable weather in Northeast Ohio.

The weather also had a positive effect on my mood. I always dreaded Ohio's gloomiest days, and Reno's sunshine made me feel more cheerful and motivated.

Plus, I like that the city still experiences changing seasons — mild temperatures in spring and fall, heat in the summer, and even the occasional snowfall in winter.

I mostly enjoyed the changing seasons in Ohio, especially the state's stunning fall foliage. Winters, though, could be especially harsh with overcast skies and frigid temperatures.

In Reno, I can experience all four seasons while still enjoying the near-constant sunshine. A bit of sun definitely makes chilly winter days more pleasant.

I love the city's outdoor access — and the active lifestyle is hard to beat

After moving from Youngstown to Reno, I couldn't help but notice the lifestyle differences between a cloudy and sunny city.

With excellent weather and spectacular scenery, Reno's culture seems to revolve around outdoor activities.

Nearly every person I met here seemed to enjoy a variety of active hobbies, whether skiing, cycling, backpacking, or rock climbing. The sunshine just helps foster an active lifestyle.

Back in Ohio, I had trouble finding motivation to get outside on those dreary, cloudy days. In Reno, I relish the opportunity to explore the outdoors.

I've taken up road cycling and take any chance I can find to pedal through the valley and nearby Sierra Nevada mountains.

Plus, Reno's easy access to Lake Tahoe has put even more outdoor adventures at my fingertips when I want to go hiking, kayaking, or scuba diving.

I miss living near family, but I can't imagine living in a cloudy city again

After living in Nevada for years, the state feels like home. I love walking my dog on sunny hiking trails (even in winter!) and knowing I can expect relatively pleasant weather year-round.

That being said, I don't love everything about living here. The weather can be exceptionally windy at times, and summers come with a risk of smoke from nearby wildfires.

I miss living close to family, and the distance has been harder to handle since becoming an aunt to my adorable niece and nephews back east.

Even still, I can't imagine moving back. The outdoor lifestyle in Reno is unlike anything I experienced in the Midwest, and the sunshine keeps me feeling happy and motivated.

Although the future is uncertain, I know one thing for sure: I'd never choose to live in such a cloudy place again, and I'm happy to call sunny Reno my home.

• President Donald Trump compared the US to a department store that everyone wants "a piece" of.
• In Oval Office remarks on Thursday, he said trade deals could be concluded in a matter of weeks.
• He said there would be a "little bit of transition" before tariffs are successful.

President Donald Trump compared the US to a "big beautiful department store, before that business was destroyed by the internet."

In Oval Office remarks on Thursday, he said that he felt each country wants "a piece of that store."

"China wants it, Japan wants it, Mexico, Canada — they live off it, those two, without us, they wouldn't have a country," he added.

Trump was responding to questions from reporters about US trade deals with other countries.

Asked how much time he thought the US needed to make deals, Trump said, "I would think over the next 3 to 4 weeks."

"I think maybe the whole thing could be concluded" by then, he said.

But Trump said that, at a certain point, if a deal isn't made, a tariff will just be set and the country or the market may find the tariff rate too high.

"They'll come back and say, 'Well, we think this is too high, and we'll negotiate,' or they're going to say something else, they're going to say, 'Let's see what happens,'" Trump said.

Trump's recent tariff announcements have roiled global markets and affected relationships between the US and other countries worldwide.

Trump said any country has the right to decide not to shop in the "store of America" in order to avoid the tariffs, but that "we have something that nobody else has, and that's the American consumer."

In his remarks on Thursday, Trump also said that he may not raise tariffs on China if it goes beyond the 125% duty it currently has on American goods.

"At a certain point, I don't want them to go higher because at a certain point, you make it where people don't buy," he said.

The SAVE Act would require every American to provide a passport or birth certificate in person to register to vote and every time they update their registration. That would be a huge obstacle for millions of citizens.

Mom Taylor Mosley told Newsweek: "I always wanted to instill confidence in my kids and let them know that anything is possible as long as you have confidence."

Trump signals possible pause on new China tariffs; says TikTok deal may be delayed until broader trade talks see progress. Follow Newsweek's live updates.

• Melinda French Gates feared her family's vast wealth would result in entitled children.
• The billionaire philanthropist sent them to local schools, and they all took part in community work.
• Bill Gates' ex-wife used an allowance and chores to keep them grounded, she told a podcast.

Melinda French Gates knew her three children were at high risk of being detached from reality, so she says she took pains to keep them grounded.

With Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates as their father, Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe Gates were surrounded by a "crazy amount of wealth" and lived in an "extraordinarily large house," French Gates told NPR's "Fresh Air" podcast this week.

The philanthropist is worth about $14 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. She said she reflected on her own childhood, and the tenets her middle-class parents instilled in her, to figure out how to stave off entitlement and elitism in her kids.

"I wanted them to have deep values. And I wanted them to know they were lucky," French Gates said in the interview, part of the publicity tour for her new book: "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward."

French Gates, who divorced Gates in 2021 and stepped down as cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year, said she enrolled her children in local schools instead of homeschooling them. She wanted her family to be part of the community, and believed it would benefit her children, she said.

Her kids did take some "knocks" as she moved them between numerous schools in search of the "right school for the right kid," she said.

French Gates, who launched The Giving Pledge with Gates and Warren Buffett, made sure to expose her kids to the outside world whether they were overseas or at home.

"We went out and saw what life was like for other kids," she said. "And even in the Seattle community, we would go out and work with the homeless, work in a community shelter, be on the lines where they're feeding people."

Those experiences opened their eyes to how lucky they were and made them think about their role in society, French Gates said. She added that her younger daughter, Phoebe, worked in Rwanda for several summers in middle and high school and lived with a local family there.

French Gates said that seeing the world gave her kids perspective about the harsh realities of life and the fact that Seattle was just a "tiny speck on the map."

"And so I tried to ground them in that, ground them with chores, ground them with an allowance," she said, adding that she made sure the hired help had good values too.

French Gates also discussed why she values community work on the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast this week. She said that helping the homeless, mentoring or helping kids with their homework, and serving food to the less fortunate teaches valuable lessons and makes people feel better for helping out.

The lives of Black women—especially Black mothers—are not expendable. Black women are not a political talking point. Our existence is the very foundation of our families, our communities, and our future.