When a film is remade, it can either be completely unnecessary or long overdue – luckily, The Colour Purple falls into the latter group. The original Steven Spielberg film, starring Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg, came out nearly four decades ago, and now the trailer has dropped for the musical remake.
Spielberg and Oprah are back on board with the remake, both acting as producers on the film which is based off the Broadway musical.
There’s a brand new cast attached too, including American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, Orange is the New Black star Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, and The Little Mermaid actor Halle Bailey.
At its roots, the original film, the Broadway show, and now the new musical remake, stem from Alice Walker’s 1982 novel of the same name, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Colour Purple.
The Colour Purple follows 14-year-old African American girl Celie in rural Georgia in the 1900s. Born into poverty, she is repeatedly raped by her stepfather, has her children taken away from her, and she is coerced into marriage.
Celie’s story is narrated through her letters to God, and later to her letters to her sister Nettie who she was separated from as a child. The story follows Celie over four decades as she struggles to find her identity as she faces a myriad of abuse and bigotry, and how she holds on to hope that she will one day be reunited with her sister.
The Broadway musical, which the new film is based on, follows the same storyline but with the addition of regular original songs. The original run of the musical was from 2005 to 2008, before it was revived again between 2015 and 2017 when it won two Tony Awards.
American Idol season three winner, Fantasia Barrino has been cast as Celie, reprising her Broadway role. The film also stars Danielle Brooks as Sofia, reprising the role she earned a Tony nomination for in 2016.
Taraji P. Henson has been cast as Shug Avery, the character first introduced to the audience as Celie’s husband’s (known as Mister) mistress. Colman Domingo will play Celie’s husband Mister, while Corey Hawkins will play Harpo (Sofia’s husband) and Halle Bailey will play a young Nettie (Celie’s sister). It’s a star-studded cast for sure.
In the 1985 film The Colour Purple, Oprah took on the role of Sofia, Celie’s friend. For the new musical version of the film, Oprah is one of the film’s producers alongside original director, Steven Spielberg.
When asked about the need for the remake, Oprah said: “As long there is a need for self-discovery, self-empowerment, as long as there is a need for victory in someone’s life, as long as there is a need for people to know what it feels like to be loved up and to be made full and hold to somebody else’s love, there will be a need for ‘The Color Purple.'”
Yep! The first full length trailer dropped on 22 May and promises great things to come:
It’s safe to say fans are very excited about the new movie, with thousands of comments left under the trailer on YouTube.
“I hope they give Fantasia room to shine in this movie, she's got the potential to give an Oscar worthy performance here,” one fan said. “If this movie is as good as this trailer implies, I expect nothing short of perfection from her. She has the talent and the voice and charisma to pull it off.”
“Whew. The way Fantasia's voice came in, the eyes welled up and my goosebumps raised. She should have won a TONY for her portrayal and she better not get robbed for her Oscar,” another added.
Over on Twitter, one fan tweeted: “Oh. My. God… I am obsessed with this musical score and I’m Here is one of the best theatre songs ever written, I cannot wait to see this!”
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The Colour Purple is set to be released in the US on 25 December this year, and will be released internationally on 26 January, 2024.
