(Updated 10/27/2023)
Alice Walker’s landmark novel "The Color Purple" has been adapted to stage and screen with great success. The Steven Spielberg movie, released in 1985, was the filmmaker's first foray into purely dramatic material, the first big role for star Whoopi Goldberg, and the movie debut of Oprah Winfrey.
The musical adaptation that followed expanded the scope of the novel through musical numbers. Now, a new movie is arriving just in time for Christmas. It is based on the musical as much as on the novel, making for a unique lineage. The cast of this new THE COLOR PURPLE is stacked with talent, from recent THE LITTLE MERMAID star Halle Bailey to Taraji P. Henson and Fantasia Barrino, who played the lead role in the stage musical at one point.
Watch the new trailer for THE COLOR PURPLE and learn more about the movie below.
When Does The Color Purple Come Out?
Warner Bros. Pictures will release THE COLOR PURPLE on December 25.
Watch the New Trailer for The Color Purple
If you've seen the Spielberg version of this movie, this new THE COLOR PURPLE will immediately stand out as something different. It's a bigger, bolder movie, with musical sequences that clearly flaunt their lineage as descendants of the Broadway show.
What Is The Color Purple About?
For those who haven't experienced any version of this story, here's a simplified intro that is as spoiler-free as we can make it. Celie and Nettie are teens in Georgia in the early 1900s. Their abusive father gives Celie away to be the wife to another abusive man, Albert Johnson, called simply Mister. Nellie runs away and promises to write Celie. Years go by and Celie never hears from Nettie, assuming that she has forgotten her or is dead.
After years of difficult life with the belittling Mister, Celie meets two women who change her life. One is Sophia, who marries one of Mister's sons. The other is Shug Avery, a showgirl who has had a long influence on Celie. Their stories all intertwine with some big conflicts and surprises.
The Cast of The Color Purple
Since THE COLOR PURPLE spans many years, we see some characters at multiple stages of their lives. Phylicia Pearl Mpasi and Halle Bailey play Celie and Nettie as teenagers. Fantasia Barrino plays Celie as an adult — and this isn't her first time in the role. Fantasia came to fame as an "American Idol" contestant, and played Celie in two different short runs on Broadway and in the production's touring company.
Danielle Brooks plays Sofia — that's the role Oprah played in the original movie — and Taraji P. Henson plays Shug Avery. Colman Domingo appears as Albert "Mister" Johnson while Corey Hawkins plays his son, Harpo. Other important roles are played by H.E.R., Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Batiste, David Alan Grier, Louis Gossett Jr., Deon Cole, Tamela J. Mann, Stephen Hill, and Elizabeth Marvel.
Who Directed the New Color Purple?
First, the video above — which repeats some footage from the first trailer — features statements from several key members of the cast and crew. THE COLOR PURPLE is directed by Ghanaian artist/musician/filmmaker Blitz Bazawule (THE BURIAL OF KOJO) and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones, who has been involved with the stage musical and did the score for Spielberg's movie.
THE COLOR PURPLE opens on December 25.
All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.