Ryan Coogler on Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners Oscar Buzz, X-Files Reboot

Ryan Coogler made his first “Creed” film because his father Ira loved the “Rocky” franchise.

Now it’s his mom Joselyn’s turn. Coogler tells me he signed on to reboot “The X-Files” because his mother was a big fan of the Fox sci-fi drama series.

“Like my relationship with ‘Rocky’ with my dad, ‘The X-Files’ is one of those things with my mom,” Coogler told me Friday at the Cinespia “Sinners” screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. “My mom means the world to me — she’s actually here tonight — so this is a big one for me. I want to do right by her and the fans. My mom has read some of the stuff I wrote for it. She’s fired up.”

As for rumors that Danielle Deadwyler is being eyed to star in the reboot, Coogler laughed, “I can neither confirm or deny.” The same goes for possible appearances by original “X-Files” stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.

“Sinners” is the first movie to be shown at Cinespia during the same year it was released. “I’m so excited,” Coogler said. “This is a dream come true. This is my favorite event in Los Angeles. I’m from the Bay Area and L.A. is like our first cousin. There’s a lot of differences between Southern California and Northern California, but we have a lot more in common than we do different. But Cinespia is such an L.A.-specific event and so unique. It was always a dream of mine to make a movie that could play here.”

Michael B. Jordan stars in the vampire horror film in the dual roles of twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their Mississippi hometown after WWI to open a juke joint. The cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Li Jun Li and Delroy Lindo.

Released theatrically in April by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Sinners” has grossed $367 million worldwide.

Jordan has consistently attracted Oscar buzz for his Coogler projects, including “Fruitvale Station” and the “Creed” and “Black Panther” franchises. “I do think he stepped it up to another level on this,” Coogler said of the actor’s work in “Sinners.” “We asked him to do this difficult thing technically, playing two different characters, but it also was a performance that we needed to have the backstory that we had before to pull this off. To see him recognized by his peers and other folks in the industry, I know that would mean a lot of him.”

Coogler also spoke about Machine Gun Kelly revealing over the summer that he was going to audition for the movie but backed out because he wasn’t comfortable saying the n-word. “That’s understandable,” the filmmaker said. “I get it. I know he has a Black daughter and acting is acting, but you have to be comfortable with whatever it is.”

“Sinners” is being re-released for Halloween Oct. 30-Nov. 5 in select IMAX theaters. An official line of “Sinners” costumes are also available at Spirit Halloween stores.