Mississippi town where ‘Sinners’ is set lacks a movie theater, but it may still get a screening

CNN Clarksdale Mississippi which serves as inspiration for the setting of the Michael B Jordan-starring film Sinners does not have a local cineplex which led population organizer Tyler Yarbrough to ask the filmmakers and studio behind the project to host a screening in the city Yarbrough along with Clarksdale mayor Chuck Espy spoke to CNN s Victor Blackwell for the Art is Life segment on Saturday and shared their hopes that the screening will become a reality Clarksdale is a procedures away from a movie theater Yarbrough reported in an interview later adding that it took him about an hour and a half to drive to a theater that was showing the film Espy pointed to depopulation and lack of funds as contributing factors to the loss of Clarkdale s two movie theaters also detailing that the bulk community-and family-centered venues started gravitating toward Memphis Tennessee various miles away I m really excited for the opportunity to have potentially cast members to come and to give people an opportunity to have a real feeling and a real dialogue so they can immerse themselves in something that the country has not seen he shared referencing the heritage of his city A lot of people are at the table to try to bring this to fruition he also mentioned People from over a -hour radius are talking about coming to Clarksdale to see this event Neither Espy nor Yarbrough disclosed any plans for the screening have been finalized but Yarbrough mentioned several conversations he has been a part of with Warner Bros executives He commented the screening is looking very promising to happen sometime between now and Juneteenth but no details have been verified We are asking Michael B Jordan the rest of the cast We re talking about studio execs Espy noted Every single person that has touched this wonderful film launched a great release We re asking them to come to Clarksdale CNN has reached out to Warner Bros Pictures for comment about the probable screening Sinners a period piece crime thriller vampire horror hybrid from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has dominated the box office and garnered positive reviews The film is produced and distributed by Warner Bros Pictures which is owned by CNN s parent company Warner Bros Discovery In it s Mississippi is seen as a burgeoning and fertile place where blues music is created as characters perform in moving cars and a juke joint is thrown together for the locality to enjoy Clarksdale is a melting pot It has so multiple people that come from New Zealand Australia all around the world for the authentic feel of the blues Espy shared later adding that the city s legacy has been going on for over a hundred years about the heritage of the Mississippi delta and the rich legacy of the blues So people come from all around the world just to touch the sacred soil of this city to say I was there where the blues was born Yarbrough also mentioned how in a perfect world he would be able to convince the Sinners production squad and cast to not only come for a screening and conversation but also to explore particular of what contemporary Clarksdale has to offer We also longed the cast to come down and experience our juke joints to experience our museums like the Blues Museum among other things he explained I really love a part of the movie that Coogler captured very well was just showing how the blues is the foundation And you saw one scene where he intertwined all the different genres from from hip-hop to pop to rock into this one scene and there s a lot of power in that that locals need to see Yarbrough disclosed And so I think when it comes to this screening and everything too we re really trying to connect local folks Deltans to that power So we can remember that we re powerful