UPDATE: ‘Sinners’ Special Juneteenth Screening Coming To Clarksdale, Mississippi, Where The Film Is Based On

May 5, 2025 by TJB Writer in Film with 0 Comments

‘Sinners’ Is Based In Clarksdale, Mississippi, But Town Doesn’t Have A Movie Theater + Organizers Now Hoping For Screening

Update (May 5, 2025): Clarksdale, Mississippi — the setting of the blockbuster “Sinners” — has no movie theater, but that’s changing soon.

“The city has been in talks with Warner Bros.,” Mayor Chuck Espy tells TMZ, and a special screening is set. Locals, who usually drive an hour to Memphis for movies, will finally see the film “under the stars at the football field of Clarksdale High School” on Juneteenth (June 19).

The full-day event may include a panel with stars Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and director Ryan Coogler. A studio source confirmed they “reached out to Clarksdale to make the screening happen.”

This is great news! Clarksdale residents, y’all pulling up?

Original Story (April 30, 2025): Clarksdale, Mississippi, the cultural heart of the Delta and inspiration for the hit film “Sinners,” has no movie theater, leaving residents unable to watch the $161 million box office success filmed in their own image. The town’s last active cinema, Delta Cinema, closed in 2003. Now, residents are asking for a screening.

Tyler Yarbrough, a Clarksdale native, had to drive nearly 80 miles—twice—to see the film.

He told Aallyah Wright from the news outlet Capital B:
“It’s authentically Mississippi Delta through and through,” he said. But many in the majority-Black town of 14,000 can’t afford that luxury. Limited transportation and low income make access to theaters nearly impossible.

In response, Yarbrough launched a petition asking the film’s director Ryan Coogler and the cast to bring “Sinners” to Clarksdale.

“There needs to be a coming home,” he said. Residents hope a screening would not only honor their stories but also spark long-overdue investment in their cultural and creative spaces.