Clarksdale gains more notoriety with ‘Sinners’ movie screenings

By DeAnna Tisdale Johnson

Jackson Advocate Publisher

“Sinners” comes home! On May 5, Tyler Yarbrough wrote an impactful open letter to Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, and the cast and crew of Sinners to bring the movie to Clarksdale, MS where the movie is set. His desire was for the Clarksdale community, which doesn’t have a movie theater, to see their history manifested on the big screen. 

After thousands of signatures and social media virality, Warner Brother Pictures agreed to host a full weekend of special screenings, free and open to the public, in the MS Delta town from May 29–31, 2025. 

Set in 1930s Clarksdale, the film follows twin brothers, both played by Michael B. Jordan, who move back home from Chicago, Illinois, to Clarksdale, MS to open up a juke joint. The musical talent of Miles Caton’s character, Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore, ushers in the old Blues folklore of Robert Johnson fame resulting in the partiers getting a little more than what they bargained for. 

The first screening, on Thursday, May 29, was shown to a packed house in the form of the Clarksdale Civic Auditorium. Of course, there was thunderous applause at the movie’s end  which continued through the Q&A session with Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, Caton, producers Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, music royalty Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, Memphis vocalist Tierinii Jackson, and a few Grammy Award-winning Mississippi greats involved in the film – Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Cedric Burnside, and the legendary Bobby Rush. 

Rush says he remembers working in Clarksdale in 1949 with Muddy Waters. “We had to work down in Alligator at a little juke joint because we couldn’t work in certain places here,” says Rush. “Then we wanted to catch the train to Marks, Mississippi. White people could get off at Marks, but we had to get off one mile down at Lambert and walk back. We could get on at the same place as white people get on, but you had to get off at another place.”

Coogler told a funny story about Bobby Rush that actually made its way into the film script. Coogler recounts that he was explaining the concepts involving the vampires to the musicians who helped with the score. He said that Bobby Rush looked him in his eyes the entire time he was explaining. And afterwards, Rush said, “I knew a vampire once.” Delroy Lindo’s character, Delta Slim, uses a similar line in the movie.

Hometown hero and journalist Aallyah Wright, who hosted the session, said she was “grateful to be here in Clarksdale, the place that raised me first and gave me my start in journalism.” And she asked the question on everyone’s mind: Why wasn’t Sinners filmed in Clarksdale? 

In his closing remarks, Coogler stated, “I’ve been blessed to travel all over the world through this gift that is filmmaking. I have family from Mississippi – my uncle, my grandfather – and I had never been here until working on this script. And coming here, it blew my mind. I got to meet musicians; I got to meet community members, business owners. It really changed me to come here and do the research.”

Even Warner Brothers’ executive Jeff Goldstein was impacted by his visit to Mississippi. “It’s a deeply emotional day for us. It’s been a privilege for us to be a part of this extraordinary movie by an extraordinary talent, Ryan Coogler. And the cast has been amazing. The movie has resonated throughout the world. It’s a story that’s so deeply touching to everyone. There’s a piece of it in all of us,” he expressed.

The weekend also included panels, performances, and celebration of the rooted history and deep cultural influence that Clarksdale has shared with the world.