After getting off to a strong start on Christmas Day, The Color Purple lost some of its luster this weekend at the box office.
The movie musical finished the weekend in fourth place, after bringing in an industry projected total of $13 million between Friday and Sunday, according to box office tracking company Comscore.
The film posted an impressive $18.1 million opening day number on Dec. 25, but has continued to fall.
On Friday, it earned $4.1 million. It took in another $5.2 million Saturday and an estimated $3.7 million on Sunday.
Related Story: Taraji P. Henson to Discuss Finding Her Voice on OWN Special With Oprah Winfrey
Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian noted that the film faces tough competition in theaters, especially from Wonka — which is now in its third weekend. Both films were released by Warner Bros.
“This past weekend was jam packed with new films and Wonka’s return to the top spot in weekend three showed how unpredictable and competitive this final weekend of the year is,” Dergarabedian told Urban Hollywood 411 on Sunday.
The Color Purple stars Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson. Since it arrived in theaters, the film has earned a domestic total of $45.3 million through Sunday.
With a reported budget of $100 million, plus marketing costs, it will have to bring in a lot more green to become profitable.
Based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, the film tells the story of a group of Black women who rely on their sisterhood as they deal with hardship and trauma in rural Georgia in the 1930s.
Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones produced the film, which was directed by Blitz Bazawule. Spielberg helmed the Oscar-nominated 1985 movie adaptation of the book, which starred Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Winfrey. Goldberg has a cameo in the new film.
So far, the reimagined 2023 movie has resonated with older Black moviegoers, but it hasn’t drawn as much interest from other demographics.
If it picks up SAG Award and Oscar nominations in the coming weeks, that could help generate more buzz and more ticket sales.
“The Color Purple is really just getting started,” Dergarabedian predicted.
The film has already received two Golden Globe nominations — best performance by a female actor in a supporting role for Danielle Brooks and best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy for Fantasia.
Related Story: Eddie Murphy Gets the Last Laugh in ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Trailer
As The Color Purple slowed at the box office, Wonka gained steam.
The fantasy musical starring Timothée Chalamet returned to the top spot with a 3-day domestic total of $23.9 million.
The film is based on characters by Roald Dahl, and takes place before the events of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. The cast also includes Rowan Atkinson, Tom Davis, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, Matt Lucas, Simon Farnaby, Keegan-Michael Key.
Since it opened earlier this month, the film has earned $134.6 million in North America through Sunday, and more than $244 million overseas. Worldwide the film has earned $379 million.
Last week’s leader, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, slipped to second place with $19.5 million. The superhero saga continues to underperform after taking in $77.8 million after two weekends.
The animated family fantasy Migration was third between Friday and Sunday with $17.2 million.
As mentioned, The Color Purple was fourth, and the R-rated Sony comedy Anyone But You rounded out the top five with $9 million. With a reported cost of $25 million, the comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell has earned back its budget after two weekends.
Hasn’t this already been done?
Embarrassing that “Hollywood” thinks people will pay to watch this.
Look at the top music & TV charts.
Africans are boring.
The Spielberg original was amazing. This is garbage.
Unfortunately the revenue ain’t revenuing
Political Correctness has polluted this country. No longer is it acceptable to be exceptional, we all have to meet lower standards to allow minorities to participate. Time for blacks and pandering liberals to learn what made this country great. It was the European white men. What have the Africans done that is more important than white Europeans? Why are their heroes subversives, social malcontents and black racists?
PUBLIC ENEMY: ” Fear Of A Black Planet”!!!!!!????
Let’s see…Africa has never started a world war. (Not sure how an entire continent is identified as a single entity, other than geographically.) Africa is the birthplace of humanity. Oh, and successive waves of white Europeans (English, French, Dutch, German, Irish, etc.) had no particular unity or love for one another.
Never started a war! You sure about that?
Hence why Taraji’s math ain’t mathing…
Because the revenue ain’t revenuing?
Why is this a surprise. Taraji needs her raise. Entitled.
hilarious.
I haven’t bumped into anyone who wants to see this film. I loved the original.
Lol of course it’s nominated for awards. They love being pandered to.
How many times? Go Woke GO BROKE!!! We as a society, does not want LGBQ WHATEVER we want our country to equal.
Time and again, these rich morons push their agenda on us!! It is all about what they want and not the American public.
DO NOT FORCE THIS CRAP AND THE LGQT OR WHATEVER ON US!!!!
Opera is gay, duh!! She wants to push the black and gay agenda!!!! All our commercials are now either, whit girl, black dude, or, white man and black girl or, there are gays all over our TV’s!!!! Why are the few tring to brainwash us?? They want to separate us!!!
We are all Americans!!!! Not African, British, Japanese, Mexican, Americans!!!! We are all Americans period!!! We are a melting pot of all races fighting for Freedom and equality!!!!
These rich people want us to do as they say, not as they do. America is Black, White, brown, purple or what ever they come up with next. Fight the Government and the billionaires who wants to decide this great country. Don’t let them brai wash you, telling you whites hate Black’s!!!! This is so far from the truth. I love all people’s. Color is just a skin color. It is who you are on the inside that I care about!!!!! These horrible people want to dismantle our country. Don’t let them. Our Constitution was written just for this purpose!!!! No government or people decide what is to happen this countr. We vote them in to represent us, not for the government to tell us what they think we should have. The right to bare arms was put in the Constitution just for this reason. Government is not the power, the citizens are the power!!! We vote them in to carry our wants and needs. This is why we the people are able to form a group to take back thr government!!!
We need more !!!!!!’s
Brad, this is not the best breakfast I’ve ever had and I’d like my money back.
yep
Maybe because it sucks.
I see lots of movies, but why haven’t I seen a trailer for this? I couldn’t possibly have seen one as I didn’t know until just now reading this article that it was a musical. And that, coupled with it appears to be some kind of racial comment or promotion or something similar turns me off from getting involved with yet another controversial film.
Another Hollywood spectacle, playing to empty seats all across the country!
The color boring.
Violent too!
these 13%ters are not very smart….either are they not very pretty…actually REPULSIVE
The problem is the elites control the media, and push their own agenda; which is control and therefore power. They own the future; bullies get their way! The liberal wave is unstoppable. And China has a very long term plan, and they will succeed.
I’m 67yo, and I’ve seen it all, and I know the future is theirs..
Simply, another mediocre movie made by progressive liberals who only want to tell white people how evil we are and how noble and righteous black people are.
Jesus, you sound like every other old boomer complaining about minorities.
Lol @ all the old people in here complaining about wokeism and minorities. You guys are a broken record, you know that right? You all keep saying the same thing over and over and over and over.
Check your history Joker, Africa is always at war, with each other within the continent. It’s always done by the same ideology, socialism.
Marxism and the religion of convert or die.
Nothing new under the warm California sun. That’s the issue. Too many remakes. Give this one a bad review and you are a racist, automatically.
George Floyd’s overdose death was really a turning point for the wide acceptance of black racism.
Oooooh. A movie about black oppression…., haven’t seen many of these in the last 40years……..
I imagine that the public will be beating a path to the theaters to hear this untold story…..
It’s so discordant. It shouldn’t be a musical. I knew this was gonna lose money. Poor Oprah.
They needed to replace everyone with Asians and Mexicans. EQUITY!
Wow ….what a surprise. Rather than a creative movie the genuises in Hollywood took the easy way out and did another remake.
How much longer are we going to be inundated with dumb stories about victims, disabled, handicapped, homeless bums, etc.? NO ONE CARES ANYMORE. How about some enlightening, uplifting, decent drama or comedy?