Nothing but death could keep us from this exciting news! The Color Purple, one of the meccas of Black movies, is returning to the big screen as a movie musical. Based on the Pulitzer Prize novel by Alice Walker, the movie will follow the trials and tribulations of Celie, a Black woman living in the south and the lives of the people around her during the early 1900s.
All-star cast
Oprah Winfrey will return, this time as the producer of the film with a cast of the best and brightest in Black Hollywood. Winfrey herself iconized Sofia in the original 1985 movie, directed by Steven Speilberg. Her role earned her an Oscar nomination. The 1985 film adaptation of Color Purple was her acting debut.
All my life, I had to fight… don’t get us started.
Speilberg and Quincy Jones are also signed on as producers.
Fantasia Barrino Taylor and The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey will reprise the roles of sisters Celie and Nettie and Euphoria’s Colman Domingo will play Mister, originally played by Danny Glover Other casts include Straight Outta Compton’s Corey Hawkins as Harpo and H.E.R. as Squeak. Taraji P. Henson, fresh off her role as Ms. Hannigan in NBC’s Annie Live, will play Shug Avery.
Winfrey announced Danielle Brooks‘ role as Sofia during the ABC News special Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising.
“I am here representing all things purple to tell you that you are our Sofia,” Winfrey told Brooks during the special on Thursday night. “I’m so happy to pass whatever baton from 35 — almost 40 — years ago to you. And I know you’re gonna kill it.” Both Barrino and Brooks played their respective roles on the Broadway stage. Taylor performed in a 2007 production and Brooks performed in the 2015 version.
“Blessings upon blessings,” the Orange Is The New Black star shared the announcement on her Instagram. “Firstly, Thank you God. Secondly, So beyond grateful to @oprah for trusting me with playing, once again, this powerhouse of a woman,” the 32-year-old star wrote. “She put her foot in that role and helped to change so many lives. I pray to do the same. The journey to getting to this moment was very humbling but I wouldn’t change it for the world!! I can’t wait to share Sofia with this next generation.”
Taylor shared her reaction clip of the phone call confirming she had been cast in the leading role as Celie with her 4.6 million Instagram followers.
“As I sit tonight and reflect on the journey my life has taken I believe I now understand what Redemption truly feels like,” she captioned the video. “The last time I stepped into this character, the similarities between what I portrayed on stage and what I experienced in my own reality were too close for comfort. I’ve learned since then that my pain was only an introduction to a greater purpose of meaning and assignment. I hope that every little black girl who is fighting to be heard and recognized also promises to never give up in spite of the costs.”
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‘The next evolvement’
The musical reboot has been years of manifestation for the media mogul, who also starred in Selma and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
“It has been a vehicle for magic and purpose in my life,” Winfrey spoke to Vanity Fair about the project. “I don’t know anybody who’s ever been associated with it whose life didn’t get enhanced. Everything comes from the original words of Alice Walker, which were grounded in love, really.”
Winfrey continued, “Love of this community. Love of these people. Love of those characters. And that just gets passed on and passed on and passed on. I can’t wait to see this next evolvement, which is not attached to having done it the way we’ve always done it.”
When will it premiere?
The 1985 and Broadway runs are not the only adaptations of Walker’s novel. There was also a 2015 Broadway film adaptation.
Production for the musical movie begins in March in Atlanta. It will be directed by Ghanaian filmmaker Blitz Bazawule, best known for his work on Beyonce’s Black Is King album. The movie is scheduled to be released on Dec. 23, 2023.
