Ryan Coogler

Upon release, the film was an overwhelming commercial success, grossing the fifth largest opening weekend box-office results of all-time, as well as the second highest four-day gross in history. It eventually became the highest grossing film in history directed by an African American. After the release of A Wrinkle in Time in March 2018, it was the first time the top two films at the box office were directed by black filmmakers - Coogler for Black Panther and Ava DuVernay for A Wrinkle in Time.

Kevin Feige confirmed in April 2018 that Marvel Studios plans to create a sequel to Black Panther once Coogler returns to direct it. In October 2018, Coogler had completed a deal to write and direct a sequel to Black Panther.

In January 2016, Coogler signed on to co-write and direct the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther, making him the youngest Marvel Studios filmmaker. The film, starring Chadwick Boseman as the titular character, began production in January 2017, and was released in 2018. Michael B. Jordan appears as the main antagonist Erik Killmonger, having thus starred in all of Coogler's films.

Coogler arrived at the idea after witnessing his father suffer from a neuromuscular disorder; his father was a huge fan of the Rocky films, having made Coogler watch Rocky II before major sporting events that he would participate in, such as important football games. Creed, which was released on November 25, 2015 in the United States, reunited Coogler with Michael B. Jordan, who played Apollo Creed's son Donnie. The film was praised across the board by critics.

The film was also a critical success; 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." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called Black Panther, "a jolt of a movie" and said "in its emphasis on black imagination, creation and liberation, the movie becomes an emblem of a past that was denied and a future that feels very present. And in doing so opens up its world, and yours, beautifully." Brian Truitt of USA Today awarded the film four out of four stars and called it Marvel Studios' best origin film since Guardians of the Galaxy. The film was also noted for its representation of black people and subject matter related to Afrofuturism.

Coogler's films have received significant critical acclaim and commercial success. In 2013, he was included on Time's list of the 30 people under 30 who are changing the world. His work has been hailed by critics for centering on often overlooked cultures and characters—most notably black people. He frequently collaborates with actor Michael B. Jordan, who has appeared in all of his feature films, as well as composer Ludwig Göransson, who has scored all of his films. In 2018, he was named the runner-up of Time's Person of the Year.

After the film premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the top audience and grand jury awards in the U.S. dramatic competition, The Weinstein Company acquired the distribution rights for approximately US$2 million. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the award for Best First Film.

Fruitvale Station grossed over $17 million worldwide after its theatrical run. 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." The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2013.

In July 2013, it was reported that MGM had offered Coogler to direct Creed, which he had written with Aaron Covington and is a spin-off-sequel of the Rocky films.

In January 2013, Coogler said he was working on a graphic novel and a young adult novel about undisclosed subject matter.

While at USC Film School, Coogler directed four short films, three of which won or were nominated for various awards: Locks (2009), which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Dana and Albert Broccoli Award for Filmmaking Excellence; Fig (2011), which was written by Alex George Pickering, and won the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival and the DGA Student Film Award and was nominated for Outstanding Independent Short Film at the Black Reel Awards; and Gap (2011), which won the Jack Nicholson Award for Achievement in Directing, and had a screenplay written by Carol S. Lashof.

Coogler's first feature-length film, Fruitvale Station (originally titled Fruitvale), tells the story of the last 24 hours of the life of Oscar Grant, who was shot to death by a police officer at Oakland's Fruitvale BART station on January 1, 2009. The film was developed and produced by Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker. "I've worked with a number of truly unique voices, true auteurs," Whitaker said of Coogler, "and I can tell when I'm talking to one."

After Saint Mary's canceled its football program in March 2004, he transferred and earned a scholarship to play at and attend Sacramento State, where in his four years he grabbed 112 receptions for 1,213 yards and 6 touchdowns. At Sacramento, he majored in finance and took as many film classes as he could fit in with the rigors of college football. Following graduation he attended USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he made a series of short films.

Coogler served as an executive 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 an earthquake shook the Bay Area to its core.

Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His first feature film, Fruitvale Station (2013), won the top audience and grand jury awards in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He has since co-written and directed the seventh film in the Rocky series, Creed (2015), and the Marvel film Black Panther (2018), the latter of which broke numerous box office records and became the highest-grossing film of all time by a black director.

Coogler was born on May 23, 1986, in Oakland, California. His mother, Joselyn (née Thomas), 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 the former secretary treasurer of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.