By Charna Flam, Jazz Tangcay, Angelique Jackson, Variety-
Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg have reunited to revive “The Color Purple” into a movie musical, directed by Blitz Bazawule.
After debuting footage for distributors at CinemaCon last month, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for the new adaptation, which is set to premiere in North America on Dec. 25. The film will open internationally beginning Jan. 18, 2024.
The trailer features visually bold motifs as it takes audiences inside Celie’s headspace with “American Idol” winner Fantasia reprising her Broadway role, in her major motion picture debut. It also gives an insight into the sisterhood of the women at the heart of the story. Elevated by grandeur, the highlights are the musical clips and jaw-dropping production set against the backdrop of Mister’s Farm.
Starring alongside Fantasia are Danielle Brooks as Sofia, who earned a Tony nomination for the role in the 2016 Broadway revival, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Colman Domingo as Mister, H.E.R. as Squeak, Halle Bailey as Young Nettie, Corey Hawkins as Harpo and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Mama.
The adaptation’s cast also features Louis Gossett Jr. as Ol’ Mister, David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery, Ciara as Nettie, Deon Cole as Alfonso, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as Young Celie, Tamala J. Mann as First Lady and Stephen Hill as Buster, as well as Jon Batiste as Grady and Elizabeth Marvel as Miss Millie.
In one scene, Shug Avery shows Celie how to apply lipstick. During a virtual event launching the trailer, Winfrey revealed the line was improvised. “When she says, ‘Oh, living God.’ That was an ad-libbed line that comes out of that moment when you’re with your sister and you’re looking at her in lipstick for the first time and you’re happy for her,” she explained.
Winfrey was also asked about the need to retell “The Color Purple” story almost 40 years later. Winfrey, who serves as a producer on the film, alongside Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones, replied, “As long there is a need for self-discovery, self-empowerment, as long as there is a need for victory in someone’s life, as long as there is a need for people to know what it feels like to be loved up and to be made full and hold to somebody else’s love, there will be a need for ‘The Color Purple.’”
With the film’s Christmas day release, Winfrey and Bazawule hope the film’s message will bring healing. Winfrey recalled a recent conversation with Fantasia who said, “The movie changed her because it allowed her to forgive. She said, ‘People coming to this movie will be healed because I was healed.’”
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