Disney's The Luck Of The Irish inspired Ryan Coogler's Sinners- Here's how

Ryan Coogler had quite a few inspirations while he crafted his highly successful thriller Sinners, and among these was Disney's The Luck of the Irish. The 2001 sports comedy film became a global phenomenon after its release.

Speaking to Deadline, the director talked about how Sinners' Irish musical premise had its background in the Disney film, as he said,

“That was our first introduction to some of the similarities in Irish folk music to, basically, our music. There was a small Irish community in The Bay, and we would talk about it. That movie was kind of a touchpoint for us to jump off of, crazy enough. We’ve been fascinated with that culture in my family.”

Coogler then went on to talk about how the film also gives a shout-out to Bram Stoker, as he added,

“The film was a great opportunity. It was also a big shoutout to Bram Stoker, who was Irish, and kind of gave us the first context around the concept of a vampire in popular culture. So, it just made a lot of sense to explore the character that way. He’s not Satan, but we saw him as a pre-colonial Irishman who had this massive backstory that we would kind of hint at and peel back like an onion."

More details about Sinners

Still from Sinners (Image via YouTube/Warner Bros)

Sinners stepped into 2025 as Ryan Coogler’s latest project, a horror story rooted in the eerie stillness of the Mississippi Delta in 1932. Coogler wrote, produced, and directed the film, and he brought Michael B. Jordan along to play both Smokestack twins, Elijah and Elias Moore. The brothers come back to the town they once called home, only to realize something ancient and dangerous is waiting for them.

At the center of the film is Michael B. Jordan, who portrays both Smoke and Stack. Hailee Steinfeld appears as Mary. Miles Caton plays Sammie Moore, also called Preacherboy. Buddy Guy appears as an older version of Sammie. Jack O’Connell plays Remmick. Wunmi Mosaku plays Annie. Jayme Lawson appears as Pearline. Omar Benson Miller plays Cornbread. Delroy Lindo plays Delta Slim. Peter Dreimanis plays Bert. Lola Kirke plays Joan. Li Jun Li plays Grace Chow. Saul Williams appears as Jedidiah Moore. Yao plays Bo Chow. David Maldonado appears as Hogwood. Helena Hu plays Lisa Chow. Andrene Ward Hammond plays Ruthie. Nathaniel Arcand plays Chayton. Emonie Ellison plays Therise.

Coogler has been open about the works that shaped Sinners. He grew up admiring Robert Rodriguez and drew ideas from From Dusk Till Dawn and The Faculty. He also looked to No Country for Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis, Fargo, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. The Twilight Zone influenced him as well, especially the episode The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank. Stephen King’s novel Salem’s Lot added another layer of inspiration.