AMC Theatres to Screen Dolly Parton Films in Tribute Beginning August 28
AMC Theatres will bring two Dolly Parton films back to the big screen this Friday, August 28, 2026, as a tribute to the entertainer who died on August 25 in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 80. The retrospective will play across roughly 200 AMC locations in the United States, including theatres in Parton's home state of Tennessee, according to Variety.
The chosen titles are Steel Magnolias (1989) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Each participating theatre will offer two matinee screenings daily — one of each film — through September 2, at AMC's Fan Faves value pricing, Variety reports. The Crest Theatre in Sacramento, California, has separately announced its own Steel Magnolias screening on September 6 as part of a Dolly Parton celebration, per the Crest Theatre's announcement.
Parton died peacefully on August 25, 2026, in Nashville; her publicist confirmed the death but no cause was disclosed, Reuters reported. Tributes followed, including one from Miley Cyrus, Parton's goddaughter, Reuters reported on August 26.
Though known first as a songwriter and country music icon, Parton built a parallel career in Hollywood that began with 9 to 5 in 1980. She starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as Doralee Rhodes, a Southern office secretary, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. The film's title track brought her an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas followed in 1982, with Parton playing Miss Mona Stangley opposite Burt Reynolds. The role delivered her second Golden Globe nomination for acting. Steel Magnolias, released in 1989, placed her in an ensemble of well-known names — Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis and Daryl Hannah — as Truvy Jones, the small-town beauty parlour owner whose shop anchors the story.
For audiences who know Parton's music but have never caught these performances in a cinema, the AMC tribute offers a chance to see them where they were built to be seen: on a full-sized screen, in a room with other people. The run is brief — five days of matinees — and the pricing sits below standard ticket rates, which may matter for families planning a last outing before the US summer break ends.
The timing also gives the screenings a communal quality that streaming cannot replicate. Public mourning of a figure of Parton's stature tends to find its expression in shared experiences — a singalong, a church service, a packed theatre. AMC has, in effect, offered the room.
