“The Color Purple” will now be turned into a movie musical based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and the 1985 film.
Variety reports Ghanian filmmaker Blitz Bazawule (The Burial of Kojo, Black Is King) is set to direct the upcoming Warner Bros. project, which will be released in 2023. So far, no casting choices have been announced.
Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg have signed on to produce, reuniting the two after Winfrey starred as Sofia in the film, which Spielberg directed and co-produced alongside Quincy Jones, Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank Marshall.
Related Story: Warner Bros. to Release All 2021 Films in Theaters and HBO Max at Same Time
Winfrey made her feature film acting debut in the original Warner Bros. movie, and was nominated for an Academy Award. The drama also starred Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Rae Dawn Chong.
The novel from Alice Walker that inspired the film and musical tells the coming-of-age story of a group of Black women — Celie and her two friends — living in rural Georgia in the 1930s. It was first published in 1982 and Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction the following year, making her the first Black woman to win the award. The book was also turned into a 2005 musical.
The Color Purple is one of three films Warner Bros. has so far slated for release in theaters in 2023. The other two films are the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel titled Furiosa, and the family film Coyote vs. Acme.
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.