The Color Purple Movie Musical Shifts Opening Date | Playbill

Film & TV News The Color Purple Movie Musical Shifts Opening Date

Broadway alums Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino lead the stage-to-screen adaptation.

Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino pose backstage at The Color Purple

The upcoming screen version of Broadway's The Color Purple musical has shifted its opening date, according to a report in Deadline, and will now hit movie theatres five days later on December 25.

The Color Purple will be led by Broadway Color Purple alums Fantasia Barrino as Celie and Danielle Brooks as Sophia, along with Grammy winners Jon Batiste as Grady and Ciara as Adult Nettie, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, H.E.R. as Squeak, Halle Bailey as Young Nettie, Tony nominee Colman Domingo as Mister, Tony winner David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery, Aunjanue Ellis as Celie and Nettie's mother, Elizabeth Marvel as Miss Millie, Louis Gossett, Jr. as Ol' Mister, Broadway Lion King alum Phylicia Mpasi as Young Celie, Tamela Mann as First Lady, Deon Cole as Alfonso, Stephen Hill as Buster, Terrence J. Smith as Adam, Tiffany Elle Burgess as Olivia, and Aba Arthur as Abena.

READ: David Alan Grier Reveals New Songs Written for Upcoming The Color Purple Movie Musical

Blitz Bazawule, who co-helmed Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King, is directing, with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders, and Steven Spielberg serving as producers. Marcus Gardley has penned the screenplay, adapted from Marsha Norman’s stage book and Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray’s score. The stage musical was adapted from Alice Walker's 1982 Pulitzer-winning novel and its 1985 film adaptation.

The Color Purple debuted on Broadway in 2005, winning original Celie LaChanze a Tony Award for her performance. A 2015 revival helmed by John Doyle earned its Celie, Cynthia Erivo, a Tony Award before propelling her to Hollywood stardom. Brooks co-starred with Erivo as Sophia, the role she will reprise in the upcoming movie musical.

 
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