Warner Bros. released the first full look at the upcoming The Color Purple musical, starring Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Danielle Brooks, H.E.R., The Little Mermaid sensation Halle Bailey, and many more. It’s immediately apparent that the film, hailing from director Blitz Bazawule, looks to stand totally on its own when compared to Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated original take on the Alice Walker novel. The trailer already hints at the visually stunning theatricality the film will offer in addition to strong performances.
This version adapts the stage musical which premiered on Broadway in 2005 and was later revived in 2015. Both productions received Lead Actress Tony Awards for the actresses playing Celie (LaChanze, Cynthia Erivo). Obviously, it’s a great role, so look out for Fantasia in the awards race. This is not her first time taking on the role — she received widespread acclaim during her stint on Broadway. Danielle Brooks, playing Sofia, also received a Tony nomination in 2015, so she’s one to look out for as well in addition to Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery.
This looks to be a major contender across the board. Remember that the original film received 10 nominations, and Bazawule already appears to be making a compelling case for revisiting this material through the musical form.
The Color Purple opens Christmas Day 2023.
32 Comments
major contender across the board?! wow, i must be in the smallest of minorities because i don’t think it looks like a contender in much of anything. i hope i’m wrong but that trailer dwarfed my original hopes and expectations for this being great.
I just watched the “official” trailer from the 1985 film…and boy, did they not know how to market THAT film: “it’s an American story for the WHOLE WORLD!” the narrator gently intones. “It’s about life, it’s about love, it’s about US!”. It’s not even stated knowingly or sardonicly! And I love Spielberg’s film.
At least this trailer informs us that it’s going to be a musical. And I’ll watch Taraji Henson and Danielle Brooks in anything. I just hope that the promised “bold new take” isn’t a complete fakeout.
THIS JUST IN IT TRAGIC WHEN ACTOR DIES EVEN AT OLD AGE IT ESP TRAGIC WHRN AN ACTOR OF CALLIBRE OF RAY STEVENSON DIES AGED 58 ! SO MUCH PROMISE AND HIS CAREER BEEN CUT SHORT FOR WHAT DESRRRVED TO BE LONG ENRICHING ACTING CAREER HAD NO SHORTAGE OF CHARISMA IN HIS ROLES.. ANOTHER WHO BE SADLY MISSED ALONG WITH FEW ACTORS ACTRESSES PAST WHO DIED UNDER AGE 60 IN LAST FEW YEARS .
As for the Color Purple.. the ONLY WAY YET ANOTHER reimaging ‘ modernised ‘ correction ‘ type drama …( hasn’t this been done to death already ? Hardly what u call origininal inventive new fresh quality films that Oscar awards season. ZBADLY NEED to dominate Oscar contenders same title sure it retelling it eith more accuracy but it same principle as all Quiet on western front last year that desrfvec to winat MOST 2 Oscars last year not 4
I am interested but the original whilst problematic in parts is seared into my brain and this looks like a lot of people playing dress up,those night time rain scenes look like they belong in a Blumhouse horror movie,can no-ne light night time scenes anymore without it looking so green.
Whoopi is fantastic in the original so Fantasia has a LOT to live up to,not feeling Henson in this at all,seems miscast.
I will 100 per cent watch it and hopefully the movie is better than this trailer suggests.
It does just seem like a remake with songs when I assumed they’d go more innovative and try something new and fresh,some of the beats in the trailer are direct lifts from the 85 film.
This version is closer to the book than the original, so it’s not a remake.
You can repeat this over and over and no one will listen, not even children.
Meh, for now.
It’s a musical! Luckily we get the overwrought non-melodic I am Here, which is nothing more than a bunch of belted notes you can catch on random episodes of The Voice. There’s a reason this song hasn’t gotten to be part of the Broadway Pantheon. And that’s the best song!
i don’t think this looks very good at all. maybe it’s the trailer.
Just think.
Will they give this ZERO wins or ZERO nominations? They gave the original 11 nominations with nothing to show. Would they do that again?
I’m not saying it’s a sure thing for nominations or win, because no one has seen it….but to ignore the Oscar history (Whoopi and Oprah should have won) of its predecessor, to ignore its Tony success—particularly winning Best Actress both times, and to ignore the team behind and in front of the screen would lack any sort of wisdom.
Disregard at your own peril.
I will say, the trailer didn’t wow me, but I can see the potential is still there….on paper it’s got everything. It just has to deliver.
“Will they give this ZERO wins or ZERO nominations?”
Even Fantasia Barrino might be shaky for a nod…!
This movie did not have Tony success. Having a Best Actress winner helps, but let’s face it, once that actress’s contract is up, the audiences disappear. I would say its overall Broadway success is very muted, especially with the revival. Broadway is filled with shows with a ready-made Brand designed to bring in the tourist crowd. Sure, it ran for 449 performances. Not a bad number. Not a good number. Certainly not an encouraging sign that this is “loved” or even respected. The original ran for 909 performances, a very good number, but not a great number. The embarrassing Spiderman ran for 1066 performances.
It lost to Jersey Boys which if you recall, was nominated for 23 academy awards and won 22 of them.
But jersey wasn’t eligible for Best Score, so most assuredly, Color Purple should have won that? No! It lost to the all-time classic Drowsy Chaperone, a musical that dominates at your local karaoke bar. (Just ask the DJ to pick a tune, any tune, and the audience will all sing along!)
LaChanze was easily the least likely winner on paper, in retrospect, going against Patty Lupone, Sutton Foster, Kelli O’Hara and Chita Rivera, four of the most soon-to-be legendary performers at that time. But Best Actress does not a musical make.
I cringed all the way…
Why?
it looks stagey, forced, faked… galaxies away from the natural flow of the original. Which already was almost a musical.
Really, if they are going to adapt Broadway musicals, I am way more interested in Spamalot, The Book of Mormon, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown… or Evil Dead!
The Color Purple is among my all time fave films (and I normally don’t love Spielberg!), so I was hoping this would be amazing, but… no, it looks like a travesty to me, at this point. I hope it is just the trailer, but unless reviews hail it as a masterpiece, I will probably pass.
Colman Domingo as “Mister” looks interesting. The lead sounds like she can sing. I’ll give it a chance.
Mister is such a horrible character that I can’t see the Academy going there.
Anthony Hopkins and Javier Bardem say hello.
Not the same.
Two things:
1) Musicals ARE staged
2) This film follows the original book it is very different from the original film.
the problem with this musical, though, is the music. I am not going to repeat what I keep saying in that the songs aren’t very good, and while I’ve not read the libretto or seen the musical, it seems like the songs don’t add very much to the proceedings. They are repetitive and pretty shallow. The whole thing seems too much like a throwback to the 1940’s and 1950’s.
check out Hairspray to see how it is done, or Hedwig and the Angry Inch… you can stage things and make them look naturalistic and not break the spell. Or even Les Miserables.
Yeah…no.
Ruimy says this was test screened four times…!
I guess we just need to see the whole product.
Off topic:
I have very recently seen Chokehold (original Turkish title: Boğa Boğa, Netflix 4.21.23) directed by Onur Saylak and starring Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ in the leading role.
Overall Grade: B+ (83/100)
A very well made thriller coming from Turkey..!
The plot might be familiar to most of us but what makes this film unique is the minimalistic approach adopted by the filmmaker here. He literally built the story with the well chosen visuals all shot in a very masterful way. And the lead actor Tatlıtuğ did a very good job in conveying the inner struggles of a very corrupted character.
A must see for any cinephile I would say.
p.s. thanks to rufussondheim for recommendation.. 🙂
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e041310e9d779e193e2078f56e057f6c54d490d37de150c3a9baed510eb75e41.jpg
Thanks! – I really was impressed with this movie simply because, yeah, the minimalism of it all, especially the lead’s performance. And somehow the everyday clothes and decor looked majestic.
There’s something about well-made Turkish entertainment that’s extremely watchable.
Looks amazing, and I’m not just saying that because my friend worked on the set design! 🙂
I cannot wait to see this one!
Could be great. Could be a miss.
reading comments from Youtube, I think this is going to be huge box-office wise, and that might propel it to be a final best picture nominee. I am a sentimental guy so I wanted to be touched by the trailer, but this had zero effect on me 🙁
However, I really hope Fantasia will be big since I am a big fan of hers.
I think box office will be completely dependent on critical success.
That seems to be the general trend with movie musicals adapted from the stage these days.
https://ndsmcobserver.com/2023/02/netflixs-plan-to-lose-subscribers/
Netflix likes to impose it xtraordinary level of pigheaded arrogance ey ?
For few reasons :
1) they are the ugly divisive face of radical left activism shamelessly but SHOULD BE ASHAMED as last several year Netflix has continually up till last year…I convinced is an aberration rather than new trend of common sense ..which would be beneficial foe Netflix chanced to have actual best picture winner…. but don’t hold your breath. Yet they persist other than last year with their sociological idiocy obsession on films and themes most us DONT CARE ABOUT .. evrn thought they the face of the Academy’s divisive DEEPLY unpopular polarising politicised Oscar race and outcomes ( unofficially ).. yet Oscar not embraced Netflix for best picture yet Netflix persist before last year the PRIOR 5 yrs or 4 since Netflix had undeserved best pic contender largely in each these years….but NETFLIX HAS LOST OUT for best pic win a LOT..
2) if that not bad enough Netflix imposes their draconian ‘ password sharing ‘ crackdown it a SCAM designed to milk Money and rip off Netflix members if u choose stay logged in on a pc how do Netflix hope to damn well monitor this? Secret spy staellites or something? It dangerous great area for ANY SUBSCTIBER to go to..cos it put seed of doubt in users who do write think pay Netflix absorbent excessive costs compared to EVEN BETTER rising popular platforms of Stan and Amazon… Netflix treats their subscribers like Guinea pigs in a costly experiment that oy push users away this scheme is a ploy for excuse to justify imposing extra expense on Netflix subscribers …
Amazon , Disney plus, Stan,binge don’t do this they don’t tinker and most do not continue to bludgeon users with far leftist obscure sociological claptrap….
This year Oscar be best served if they IGNORE Netflix… thry good as runner ups but constantly failed to win best picture… perennial lovers that number experts believe whatever rheur recent gains in subscribers… will only drive those gains away.
Streaming is diversifying which is great it evolving for whatever regaining of support of boost to subscriber numbers it merely RESTORES masses that were lost over a year ago… but are at risk of losing thrm again wirh this idiotic ‘ pretend I can control what ppple in their households do ‘ mentality with password sharing …
Netflix show rhe6 out of touch I confident Amazon prime go past their subscriber numbers very soon…and i predict by end of year Amazon lose much of subscribers tjry finally regained
Re what I said below OT why this year save for the film. ‘AIR’ I MOST Uncomvinced and hope truly theatrical primarily releases dominate final best pic list far too much stock Oscar put in streaming with overwhelming thumbs down by Oscars ratings overall decline in last 7 yrs… and ongoing mixed divisions within the academy and industry over the leaderships direction too
… it was the THEATRICAL films genuine one who praised at highest level last year that truly took audiences with rhrm and were everybitnof merit criteria AMPAS SHould but have NOT embraced as best pic winner for most of last decade NOT streaming films that competed that claim credit as MAIN reason. For the 5 million boost in vieweship and those that say academy viewpoint of merit should EXCLUDE fail to consider as part of equation film going public should not be end unto itself but padtt of equation I ask you all.. what has embracing obscure message driven limited release drivel achieved positively in most of last 10 -13 yrs? Look at pre 2010 and through 80’s 90″s? How many Oscar winners won best pic were of high quality vinrmatically very strong on merit but also revered by film audiences, ? I wonder hmm? Compared to the 2010- 2023 era how many had moderate public support ,? Ate fish made for cultural elite activists or for us? Can a high quality high merit cinema take audience eirh thrm? Yes they can … yet..Oscar are kidding themselves over embracing streaming services…
Clearly contrary to unsubstantiated false assumptions by some. Film like top gun Maverick OT braveheartt , gladiator, kings speech,, Chicago, even Shakespeare in love, the aviator, the departed, to mention just a few are not ‘ peopled choice award’ they are BOTH PEOPLEE CHOIVE AND HIGHLY CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AND CLEARLY STRONG MERIT TO FOT AMPAS PRE SOCIALIST FAR LEFT AGENDA.. I think most us not have problem with embracing films like that.
Rhis year
Oppenheimer
Killers of Flower Moon
Roosevelt
Asteroid city
Napoleon
Dune II
Next Goal.Wins
Colour purple
Are NOT primarily or most case secondary steaming releases wouldn’t it be better outcome if Oscar abandon their streaming obsession ?
Cos clearly ratings do matter regardless of changes to anpas yet their attitude and undermining of hybrid blockbuster high regarded theatrically speaking on merit get nominated but they DONT WIN any or many major Oscars…it not cod they not better thsn film that one this pattern repeated itself for far too.long this year they have to HAVE to change but with RAISE bulldust sadly more of same… expect of list I mentioned only 2 out of this list maybe 3 make up top 10 best pic films.. prepare bevdisappimted this WXACTLY where academy fail us time n again