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One of the best things about the late great songwriter Allee Willis is that anyone who considers themselves a fan of hers can still be hit by one of her accomplishments by surprise. Such is the crux of the new documentary released by Magnolia Pictures titled “The World According to Allee Willis.”

Though the quirky creative was hard to miss in a crowd, with her signature haircut and colorful outfits, Willis is somewhat of a hidden figure among the world of music and film, colloquially referred to as the white woman who co-wrote Earth, Wind, and Fire’s eternal hit “September,” yet somehow worked on “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts too, also known as the theme song for “Friends.”

That said, Willis’s two Grammy Awards actually come from the original music she wrote for stage and screen. In the exclusive clip above from “The World According to Allee Willis,...

Directed by Blitz Bazawule from a script by Marcus Gardley, Alice Walker’s novel comes to life on the big screen once again with this stage-to-screen adaptation of the classic coming-of-age story. Fantasia Barrino leads the cast in her feature film debut as Celie, who, despite a life of hardships (from personal to societal), finds strength and solace in sisterhood. Featuring an A-list ensemble including Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., and more, the Oscar-nominated “The Color Purple” makes its streaming debut on Max on Friday, Feb. 16. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max.

How to Watch 'The Color Purple' When: Friday, February 16, 2024 Where: Max Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Max. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com About 'The Color Purple'

“The Color Purple” takes on a new hue as Brenda Russell, Allee Willis,...

Warner Bros. PIctures’ The Color Purple will make its streaming debut on Max on February 16.

The Blitz Bazawule-directed musical adaptation stars Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Danielle Brooks.

Adapted from the novel and Broadway musical, the film takes on the classic story of love and resilience. Torn apart from her sister Nettie (Bailey) and her children, Celie (Barrino) faces many hardships in her life, including an abusive husband simply called Mister (Domingo). With the support of sultry singer Shug Avery (Henson) and stand-her-ground stepdaughter Sofia (Brooks), Celie ultimately finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of sisterhood.

Bazawule directs from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, whose script is based on the novel by Alice Walker and based on the musical stage play, book by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray,...

Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.

Today, I am chatting with writer-actress-singer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who stars as young Celie in the new musical film version of The Color Purple, and with Fatima Robinson, the famed choreographer who helped create the movie’s spectacular dance pieces.

The Color Purple is based on the Tony-winning musical from Marsha Norman, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker. It comes on the heels of a classic 1985 film adaptation from director Steven Spielberg and centers on Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over the course of 40 years.

Prior to appearing in The Color Purple, Mpasi was a staff writer on the Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,...

Los Angeles, California – December 06: Taraji P. Henson attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Warner Bros.’ “The Color Purple” at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 06, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stewart Cook/Getty Images for Warner Bros. ) The big difference between the original film version of The Color Purple and the new version? It’s the music, of course! The new version of The Color Purple is based on the musical, which opened on Broadway in music written by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. All were accomplished songwriters — Russell had a solo career of her own (Piano in the Dark), Willis co-wrote songs like Earth Wind & Fire’s classic September and The Rembrandts’ I’ll Be There For You, and Bray co-wrote several of Madonna’s early hits. The three brought a diverse set of ideas to the table when writing music for The Color Purple,...

The Color Purple has surpassed $25 million at the box office, outgrossing several other major 2023 releases. The movie is based on the 2005 Broadway musical inspired by the 1982 novel by Alice Walker. It took only two days for it to reach this box office milestone.

The Color Purple has already passed a major box office milestone. The new movie is based on the Broadway musical of the same name by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, which was in turn based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker. The movie, which is set in the American South during the early 20th century, follows a woman named Celie (Fantasia Barrino), who finds strength from her connections with the women in her life, including her stepdaughter-in-law Sofia (Danielle Brooks) and nightclub singer Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson).

Per Variety, the The Color Purple box office has added an additional $7.1 to its gross in North America on the post-Christmas Tuesday.

Lachanze, the actress who played the central character Celie Harris Johnson in the 2005 Broadway musical adaptation of The Color Purple, posted yesterday about the new movie musical produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.

Lachanze said she was “thrilled for the movie’s success” and “happy for all involved,” but added, “I do want my royalty fee for the lyrics I added to ‘I’M Here.

“I am getting a lot of Dm’s and posts about why I’ve been left out of the press as the original Celie in the [The Color Purple] (musical),” she wrote. “I am thrilled for the movie’s success! Happy for all involved,” the 62-year-old tweeted Tuesday. “However, I do want my royalty fee for the lyrics I added to ‘I’M Here.'”

I am getting a lot of Dm’s and posts about why I’ve been left out of the...

The Color Purple Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Fantasia Barrino

Director: Blitz Bazawule

The Color Purple Movie Review Out ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

What’s Good: The musical numbers are exciting for their energy and emotion. The cast assembled for this film is exceptional for fitting the roles of both a period drama and a Broadway-style musical. Despite the lengthy running time, the music is able to keep up the pace, and the drama unfolds with a heartfelt sincerity.

What’s Bad: The most concerning aspect of the film is how it stages its darker nature of r*pe, teenage pregnancy, s*xual abuse, and racism with a coat of upbeat musical numbers to break up the somberness. The musical numbers also elongate scenes longer, despite the film being less lengthy than the 1985 film.

Loo Break: When...

The rough edges of Stephen Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation have been softened but the evocative energy of this movie-musical’s three female leads is magical

This heartfelt movie-musical of The Color Purple sugars the pill and softens the blow, planing down the original’s barbed and knotty surfaces, taking away some of the shock of violence and tragedy and tilting the experience more towards female solidarity and triumph over adversity. But that’s perhaps part of a creatively emollient process that began in 1985 with Steven Spielberg’s powerful if bowdlerised screen version of the Alice Walker novel; the film was then transformed into a hit Broadway musical in 2005, which is now the template for this new adaptation.

There’s certainly an absolute powerhouse trio of female leads here, supercharging the action with their fierce charisma. Fantasia Barrino plays courageous abuse survivor Celie (the part originally played by Whoopi Goldberg); Taraji P Henson...

For a story so filled with trauma and sorrow — violence, suffering, racism, child abduction, spousal abuse — the second screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel, The Color Purple, is a surprisingly joyful experience. The prevailing takeaway is its resounding themes of spirituality, self-discovery, redemption and resilience. Based on the 2005 Broadway musical that was revived to great acclaim 10 years later, the production marks a confident move onto a much larger canvas for Ghanaian multimedia artist Blitz Bazawule. It nods graciously to the imprint of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film while vigorously forging its own identity.

The connection to the earlier version is partly built in by having Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones back on board as producers (alongside stage producer Scott Sanders). It’s also evident in the color palette of those shimmering Amblin skies, in two songs from the movie incorporated into the Broadway score and in an unbilled cameo early on.

Blitz Bazawule’s big-screen adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple and its 2005 musical theater production is basically echo-chamber karaoke. The film knows the words and tunes but, with rare exception, lacks the passion and the perspective to make them truly resonate.

Walker’s book charted the emotional, sexual, and implicitly political coming of age of an African-American girl named Celie, whose life in rural, early-20th-century Georgia is several tiers below hell. She’s borne two children by a man, Alphonso, who beats and rapes her, and whom she knows as her father. And then a barbaric farmer known as Mister comes calling. He has eyes for Celie’s sister, Nettie, but Alphonso pawns off Celie instead, women being, in the eyes of these men, chattel-like property with inarguable coital benefits.

The book is written in epistolary style, with Celie addressing an unseen God throughout.

Alice Walker started the phenomenon with her Pulitzer-winning 1982 book, and three years later Steven Spielberg turned it into a movie that got 11 Oscar nominations. In 2005, it took on new life as a Broadway musical, and in 2015 that musical got a Tony- and Grammy-winning revival.

Along the way it made big film and stage stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino, the latter now making her feature starring debut as Celie in the new film version of the musical she led 18 years ago on Broadway. The Color Purple is indestructible, and that is also a good word to describe director Blitz Bazawule’s and screenwriter Marcus Gardley’s take that breathes exciting life into the story for new and older generations but also, to quote an original song from this film, really finds a way to “Keep It Movin’.”

Musicals have gone through a tough time recently.

In response to her Golden Globe nomination Monday for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy in The Color Purple, Fantasia Barrino starts the conversation with gratitude as she swore, after playing Celie on Broadway in the musical adaptation, she would never play the character again.

“I’ve said in Interviews before that I would never play this role again because of post-traumatic stress, but I am so glad that I didn’t allow fear to stand in my way,” she said after this morning’s nominations were revealed.

Barrino first rose to fame in 2004 when she won the third season of American Idol with her powerful, raspy voice and emotional performances. After releasing her debut song “I Believe,” which later became the fastest-selling single in history by an Idol contestant, she released her first album. It debuted at No. 1 and was certified platinum.

Over the next few years,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Poor Things, The Color Purple and American Fiction.

Leave the World Behind premiere

Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, Kevin Bacon, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans and writer-director Sam Esmail walked the carpet at the NYC premiere of their Netflix thriller on Monday.

Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts Kevin Bacon, Sam Esmail, Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Mahershala Ali and Myha’la Herrold

American Fiction premiere

Writer-director Cord Jefferson joined stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross and Sterling K. Brown at their film’s Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday.

Cord Jefferson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander and Adam Brody

Wish music celebration

The team behind the music of Wish, including star Ariana DeBose, celebrated with an event in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Max is nothing if not a goldmine of content, with basically something to watch for everyone, and today we are making a list of the best new movies coming to Max in December 2023 that you can watch in the upcoming month. The movies in this list are ranked according to their availability dates.

Paranormal Activity (December 1)

Synopsis: After a young, middle-class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially while they sleep. Paranormal Activity builds suspense all the way to the shocking ending.

Skyfall (December 1)

Synopsis: Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 in Skyfall, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time. In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her.

Warner Bros. will be juggling several tunes in the Oscar race for best original song.

Along with the multiple tracks from “Barbie” by Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, the studio will also handle numbers from their two upcoming holiday movie musicals: “The Color Purple” and “Wonka.”

The upcoming adaptation of the musical “The Color Purple” will screen in front of its first official audience of industry voters and journalists next week. Two numbers have been submitted for awards consideration — “Keep It Movin'” and a yet-to-be-announced song.

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.

One of the film’s stars Halle Bailey, already having a breakout year with her starring role as Ariel in Walt Disney’s live adaptation of “The Little Mermaid,” has co-written “Keep It Movin’.” The track is also penned by Grammy winners Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney and Morten Ristorp,...

Taraji P. Henson is busting down doors and taking names as fan favorite character Shug in the upcoming movie musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.” Based on the acclaimed Alice Walker novel, filmmaker Blitz Bazawule’s film follows Celie (Fantasia Barrino) as she finds solace and perhaps more with Henson’s dazzling jazz singer Shug.

Star Barrino reprises the role of Celie after previously portraying the character in the Broadway show from 2007 to 2008 before embarking on the national tour in 2010. The Broadway show began in 2005 and was later revived in 2015, with Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo among the actresses who played Celie onstage. “The Little Mermaid” breakout Halle Bailey plays the younger version of Celie in the film that spans decades.

“Maid” writer and playwright Marcus Gardley penned the script, based on Walker’s novel and the musical stage play book by Marsha Norman, with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell,...

In 1985, Steven Spielberg brought Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, to the big screen and racked up Academy Award nominations for himself, for the film’s stars, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Margaret Avery, and the film’s composer, Quincy Jones. Warner Bros. now re-adapts the story based on the musical version from director Blitz Bazawule, a multi-medium artist whose breakout first feature is the highly acclaimed The Burial of Kojo.

The official synopsis from Warner Bros. reads,

“A story of love and resilience, The Color Purple is a decades-spanning tale of one woman’s journey to independence. Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately finds extraordinary strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.”

This new incarnation of the classic story features an ensemble cast that includes Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), SAG Award winner and Tony Award nominee Danielle Brooks,...

The “A Bold New Take” behind the scenes featurette from The Color Purple begins with producer Oprah Winfrey saying, “There’s nothing that’s been more vital to me culturally, artistically, than The Color Purple.” Interviews with the cast , including Halle Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, and Taraji P. Henson, and director Blitz Bazawule describe the importance of the story and why it’s still incredibly relatable.

Fantasia Barrino stars as the adult Celie, with Phylicia Pearl Mpasi playing the young Celie. Halle Bailey plays young Nettie, Ciara is adult Nettie, Danielle Brooks plays Sofia, Taraji P. Henson stars as Shug Avery, and Colman Domingo stars as Mister. Corey Hawkins is Harpo, H.E.R. is Squeak, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is Mama.

Taraji P Henson, Fantasia Barrino, and Danielle Brooks in ‘The Color Purple’ (Photo © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

Blitz Bazawule (The Burial of Kojo) directed and Marcus Gardley (The Chi) wrote the screenplay...

The first The Color Purple trailer has arrived with American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino reprising her Broadway role. The epic musical reunites Steven Spielberg, the director of the 1985 film, with Oprah Winfrey, who made her feature film debut playing Sofia. Quincy Jones, a producer on the original film, is also back as an executive producer along with Spielberg and Winfrey.

Fantasia Barrino’s picked the perfect project as her movie debut, starring as the adult Celie, with Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as the young Celie. Halle Bailey plays young Nettie, Ciara is adult Nettie, Danielle Brooks is Sofia, Taraji P. Henson is Shug Avery, and Colman Domingo stars as Mister. Corey Hawkins is Harpo, H.E.R. is Squeak, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is Mama.

Blitz Bazawule directed the musical and Marcus Gardley wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Alice Walker and the musical stage play, book (of the musical stage play) by Marsha Norman,...

Oprah Winfrey said at this year’s CinemaCon that director Blitz Bazawule’s musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel is “not your Mama’s ‘Color Purple’,” and based on the first trailer, she’s right. Warner Bros. released the first trailer today, and between cinematographer Dan Laustsen’s cinematography and Fantasia Barrino’s soaring vocals, there’s enough packed into two minutes to bring out all the emotions.

Like Walker’s groundbreaking 1982 novel on which the musical is based, this feature follows Celie (Barrino as an adult and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as a child), a Black woman struggling to survive in the South during the 1900s.

We see several sequences similar to what director Steven Spielberg had in his own adaptation of Walker’s book, released to theaters in 1985, including scenes of young Celie and her sister, Nettie (played by “Little Mermaid” star Halle Bailey as a teen) sitting in a tree,...

The trailer for Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg’s musical remake of The Color Purple has arrived. American Idol winner Fantasia stars as Celie, reprising her Broadway role. Watch it below.

In the preview, a young Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi) is separated from her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey) after being married off to an older man known only as Mister (Colman Domingo). As time goes on, Celie finds strength in the sisterhood of women she meets, like jazz singer Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), Squeak (H.E.R.), and Sofia (Danielle Brooks).

Directed by Blitz Bazawule from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, The Color Purple also features Corey Hawkins as Harpo, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Mama, and Ciara as Nettie. Louis Gossett Jr., David Alan Grier, Deon Cole, Tamala J. Mann, Stephen Hill, Jon Batiste, and Elizabeth Marvel also appear.

Based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel of the same name, The Color Purple...

A bold new take on the beloved classic, here’s a first look at the brand new trailer for The Color Purple.

Warner Bros. Pictures invites you to experience the extraordinary sisterhood of three women who share one unbreakable bond in “The Color Purple.” This bold new take on the beloved classic is directed by Blitz Bazawule and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones.

The screenplay is by Marcus Gardley, based on the novel by Alice Walker and based on the musical stage play, book (of the musical stage play) by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

“The Color Purple” stars Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Fantasia Barrino (in her major motion picture debut).

The executive producers Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Carla Gardini, Mara Jacobs,...

Culturally, “The Color Purple” is many different things to many people. To some, it’s the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker, the 1985 adaptation of that novel by Steven Spielberg, and more recently, it’s the 2005 musical with music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray. And it’s this musical that begets the latest cinematic take on “The Color Purple.”

Read More: Summer 2023 Movie Preview: 52 Must-See Films To Watch

This unique and bold new take on sisterhood and three women who share one unbreakable bond is directed by Blitz Bazawule and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones.

Continue reading ‘The Color Purple’ Trailer: Taraji P. Henson Leads The All-Star Cast Of A Bold New Musical Experience at The Playlist.

Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg have reunited to revive “The Color Purple” into a movie musical, directed by Blitz Bazawule.

After debuting footage for distributors at CinemaCon last month, Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for the new adaptation, which is set to premiere in North America on Dec. 25. The film will open internationally beginning Jan. 18, 2024.

The trailer features visually bold motifs as it takes audiences inside Celie’s headspace with “American Idol” winner Fantasia reprising her Broadway role, in her major motion picture debut. It also gives an insight into the sisterhood of the women at the heart of the story. Elevated by grandeur, the highlights are the musical clips and jaw-dropping production set against the backdrop of Mister’s Farm.

Starring alongside Fantasia are Danielle Brooks as Sofia, who earned a Tony nomination for the role in the 2016 Broadway revival, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Colman Domingo as Mister,...

Alice Walker’s timeless novel “The Color Purple” is returning to the big screen for the first time in four decades.

Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 1985 adaptation followed a young Black woman named Celie (then played by Whoopi Goldberg) trying to find her identity in rural Georgia while coping with her abusive father and the prejudices of the post-Antebellum South and forming a close connection with jazz singer Shug. A stage musical adaptation of Walker’s book debuted on Broadway in 2005, with Celie played by the likes of Lachanze and Cynthia Erivo throughout its run and revival. Now, in director Blitz Bazawule’s Warner Bros. film version of the musical (out Christmas Day), R&b star Fantasia Barrino, who appeared on Broadway in the show from 2007 to 2008 and then in the national tour two years later, takes on the role of Celie, with Taraji P. Henson as Shug. Watch the first...

Without giving away a single favorite thing, Oprah Winfrey brought the house down with a surprise appearance at CinemaCon 2023.

Revelers at the annual convention of movie theater owners were delighted by the mogul’s cameo at Tuesday’s presentation from Warner Bros. Pictures. Winfrey is a producer on the studio’s upcoming movie musical “The Color Purple,” based on the 1985 Steven Spielberg classic in which the former daytime host starred.

“‘The Color Purple’ in 1985 was the biggest and most important thing that happened to me. This is a full circle moment to be part of this film. It holds great personal meaning,” Winfrey told the crowd.

Appearing with director Blitz Bazawule, the pair showed the first footage ever screened from the project — a rousing and lush production that particularly showcased femme fatale Taraji P. Henson.

The film will open this coming Christmas Day, and boasts serious musical and Hollywood star power.

Multiple Grammy winner Jon Batiste is set to make his acting debut in the upcoming big-screen musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” directed by Blitz Bazawule and set at Warner Bros., an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Batiste will play the role of Grady. Grady is Shug Avery’s husband and described as a debonair, sweet-talking piano man, who is the epitome of charm and eloquence. Taraji P. Henson is set to star as Shug Avery. The rest of the cast includes Corey Hawkins, Aunjanue Ellis, Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Ciara, Louis Gosset Jr., David Alan Grier and H.E.R. in what will also be the musician’s acting debut.

“The Color Purple” is set for release by Warner Bros. on December 20, 2023. Production is currently underway in Georgia.

Bazawule is best known as the director of Beyoncé’s “Black Is King,” and he’ll direct from...

Grammy winner Jon Batiste is set to make his acting debut in Warner Bros.’ upcoming adaptation of The Color Purple.

The film, which is being directed by Blitz Bazawule (Black Is King), is based on the Tony-winning musical from Marsha Norman, Brenda Lee, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, which was itself adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker.

Joining a cast that includes Aunjanue Ellis, H.E.R., Corey Hawkins, and Taraji P. Henson, Batiste will play Grady, a marijuana-loving womanizer married to jazz and blues singer Shug Avery (who...

Ciara is the latest music icon to join the cast of the Warner Bros. movie musical remake of “The Color Purple,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Ciara will portray the adult version of Nettie, which already has Halle Bailey (“The Little Mermaid”) portraying the younger version of the character. She joins a cast that already includes Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Louis Gosset Jr. H.E.R., David Alan Grier and Fantasia Barrino.

Blitz Bazawule is directing “The Color Purple,” which is currently set for release by Warner Bros. on December 20, 2023. Production is set to begin this month in Georgia.

Bazawule is best known as the director of Beyoncé’s “Black Is King,” and he’ll direct from a script by Marcus Gardley (“The Chi”). “The Color Purple” also has a book by Marsha Norman and music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray,...

Blitz Bazawule’s “The Color Purple” movie musical has found its Celie and Sofia in Fantasia Taylor and Danielle Brooks.

Both actors reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, where Taylor made her Broadway debut as Celie in 2007 following her “American Idol” win, and Brooks earned a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Sofia in the 2015 revival.

Taylor and Brooks’ casting was announced on Thursday as part of the ABC News special “Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising.” During the broadcast, “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis interviewed the women about reviving their roles for the film and following the Oscar-nominated big screen performances by Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey.

Brooks relived the emotional moment when Winfrey, who is producing the new movie under her Harpo Films banner, revealed that she was chosen for the role during a Zoom call.

“I am here representing all...

Taraji P. Henson has joined the cast of the upcoming big screen musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” directed by Blitz Bazawule and set at Warner Bros., an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Henson will portray Shug Avery in the film, and she joins a cast that already includes Corey Hawkins and H.E.R. in what will be the musician’s acting debut.

“The Color Purple” is currently set for release by Warner Bros. on December 20, 2023.

Bazawule is best known as the director of Beyoncé’s “Black Is King,” and he’ll direct from a script by Marcus Gardley (“The Chi”). “The Color Purple” also has a book by Marsha Norman and music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, and the musical was a hit for its joyous score featuring jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African rhythms.

“The Color Purple” originated as Alice Walker’s Pulitzer...

Oscar- and Emmy-nominee Taraji P. Henson will star as Shug Avery in Blitz Bazawule’s “The Color Purple.”

The forthcoming Warner Bros. movie is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, which is itself an adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The production is directed by Bazawule, best known for his work on Beyoncé’s “Black is King,” “The Burial of Kojo” and “Cherish the Day.”

Marcus Gardley (“The Chi”) wrote the screenplay, based on Alice Walker’s novel, the 1985 Warner Bros. Pictures film, and the stage musical.

In Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film version, Margaret Avery played Shug Avery — the jazz and blues singer introduced as Mister’s long-time mistress before becoming Celie’s confidant — while such talents as Jennifer Hudson, Michelle Williams, Heather Headley, Elisabeth Withers, Angela Robinson and Nicola Hughes took on the role in productions of the stage musical.

Oprah Winfrey, who made her feature...

H.E.R. has signed on for her first acting role, landing the part of Squeak in Blitz Bazawule’s forthcoming adaptation of “The Color Purple” for Warner Bros.

H.E.R. is already an Oscar winner, earning the best original song trophy in April for her song “Fight For You,” from Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist also has won four Grammys.

In her Variety cover story, the 23-year-old songstress expressed her desire to become a top musician and a top actor.

“There is so much I want to do. People don’t really get to see my comedic and fun side, except for when I’m impersonating my aunt,” she said, with a laugh. “But I definitely want to do a lot more voice-overs, and comedy, but also some serious roles.”

Catching herself, she continued: “I’m trying to do it all, I know.

Corey Hawkins, who was -- in my humble opinion -- the best part of the "In the Heights" movie, has landed himself another musical role. Hawkins has joined the cast of "The Color Purple," which will be helmed by "Black Is King" filmmaker Blitz Bazawle for Warner Bros. Based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker, its 1985 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg, and the Broadway adaptation with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, the film follows a Black woman growing up in poverty in the American South. 

According to The...

The post The Color Purple Musical Will Star In the Heights Stand-Out Corey Hawkins appeared first on /Film.

“In the Heights” star Corey Hawkins is reuniting with Warner Bros. for another movie musical, this time for the musical adaptation of “The Color Purple.”

“Black Is King” filmmaker Blitz Bazawle is directing at the studio. Hawkins is expected to play the role of Harpo in the film adaptation.

“The Color Purple” originated as Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel from 1982, which was later adapted into Steven Spielberg’s Best Picture-nominated film from 1985 and then again into a musical on Broadway from 2005. Spielberg’s film was the feature-debut for Whoopi Goldberg and also featured Oprah Winfrey in a breakout role. The musical from 2005 likewise earned 11 Tony nominations and was revived again in 2016, which netted two Tonys and grossed $350 million.

The story centers on a black woman named Celie, who grows up in intense poverty in the American South and endures harsh treatment from her stepfather, husband and others in her life,...

Exclusive: We hear that In the Heights star Corey Hawkins is getting back into business with Warner Bros for its feature adaptation of the Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated 1995 movie. The role Hawkins is being buzzed to play is Harpo.

We’ve been hearing for some time about Hawkins circling Color Purple and that the studio was even testing actresses opposite him. As Deadline first told you, Ghana-born Black Is King filmmaker Blitz Bazawule is set to direct.

The Color Purple has a December 21, 2023 release date.

Marcus Gardley is writing the screenplay based on the Broadway reimagining of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel. The story depicts the lives of African American families and relationships in early 20th century Georgia. The musical, featuring jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African rhythms, has a book by Marsha Norman with music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced theatrical release dates for three big event movies tonight — and their intention is that they’re going straight to the big screen, not HBO Max and theaters. Those three are the George Miller Max Max prequel Furiosa on June 23, 2023, Dave Green’s animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme on July 21, 2023 and The Color Purple musical feature on Dec. 20, 2023. The announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and the intent is to launch the trio as global theatrical releases (not timed with a simultaneous HBO drop; which is the intent for their 2021 theatrical release).

It’s a nuanced announcement from the motion picture side of Warner Bros (sans any exec quotes) to indicate they’re not trying to meltdown exhibition coming out of the pandemic. Ever since Warners announced their radical 2021 day-and-date theatrical and streaming release strategy earlier this month, zoom calls at...

Exclusive: Hot off of co-directing Beyoncé’s Disney+ visual album feature Black Is King, Ghana-born filmmaker Blitz Bazawule is set to direct Warner Bros. musical film The Color Purple, based on the Tony-winning Broadway musical.

I hear that the feature’s producers Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones caught Bazawule’s movie The Burial Of Kojo on Netflix, and were wowed by his vibrant visual style.

“We, were all blown away by Blitz’s unique vision as a director and look forward to seeing how he brings the next evolution of this beloved story to life,” Winfrey tells Deadline.

Bazawule is a composer and musician of four studio albums: Stereotype (2009), Native Sun (2011), Afropolitan Dreams (2014) and Diasporadical (2016), and his musical sensibility, and what he could bring to The Color Purple, also impressed the producers as well. Bazawule co-directed Black Is King with Beyoncé and Emmanuel Adjei, helming the South African shoot.

Allee Willis, the songwriter perhaps best known for writing the theme song to the long-running sitcom “Friends,” died on Tuesday at age 72, according to her official Instagram page.

She died of cardiac arrest, according to Variety.

A 1985 Grammy winner and 2018 inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Willis produced an extensive body of hits that included multiple songs for Earth, Wind & Fire, including “September” and “Boogie Wonderland.”

Also Read: Ed Aschoff, ESPN College Football Reporter, Dies on His 34th Birthday

Her other hits included the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This?,” Patti Labelle’s “Lead Me On,” and the theme from “The Karate Kid,” “You’re the Best.” She earned a Grammy in 1985 for her contributions to the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack album.

In 2006, Willis earned a Tony nomination for co-writing the original score to the Broadway musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,...

Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next album is all but guaranteed to debut at Number One. When it does, it will be another in a long string of commercial slam-dunks for Grande.

More surprising, the album’s success also represents a return to the charts for ‘NSync and Wendy Rene. That’s because “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” interpolates a verse from ‘NSync’s jittery “It Makes Me Ill,” while “Fake Smile” borrows from Rene’s “After Laughter (Comes Tears),” a Sixties soul record that has been...

“The Color Purple” is headed to the big screen once again — but this time, as a musical.

Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey are teaming up to develop the property as a movie musical at Warner Bros.

Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders are also on board to produce the movie, which is launching 36 years after Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple” was published and won the Pulitzer Prize. Spielberg directed and produced the 1985 movie, which received 11 Academy Award nominations but was shut out from winning an Oscar.

The story centered on Celie, a black Southern woman in the early 20th Century who’s abused by her father and husband. Whoopi Goldberg starred as Celie in Spielberg’s movie and received an Oscar nomination as did Winfrey, making her feature acting debut. Spielberg did not receive an Academy Award nomination for his directing, but did receive a Directors Guild of America Award for outstanding directorial achievement.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Paper Mill Playhouse's The Color Purple, directed by Tony Award-winner John Doyle. The Color Purple is the Tony Award-winning musical revival based upon the novel written by Alice Walker and the Warner Bros.Amblin Entertainment motion picture with a book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.

A-Trak‘s been on something of a future house kick lately, and Los Angeles duo Phantoms appear to be onboard. The three of them have released a new remix this week of Bingo Players’ 2011 song “Cry (Just A Little)” that is definitely worth a listen.

The iconic, pitched-up sample from Brenda Russell’s 1988 single “Piano In The Dark” that made the original version of “Cry (Just A Little)” such a hit remains largely intact in A-Trak and Phantoms’ flip. A rubbery, frequency-modulated bass line adds a danceable warmth to the low end, though, serving to keep the track alive in light of Bingo Players’ 10th anniversary.

That being said, A-Trak‘s recent future house songs aren’t quite on par with the genre-defying innovations for which he has become such a respected fixture of electronic music. Until he releases another “Parallel Lines,” however, it’s not like his and Phantoms...

How can deprivation become joy? That’s not only the animating question of The Color Purple, the 1982 Alice Walker novel made into a musical in 2005, but also the operating principle behind John Doyle’s triumphant revival of that musical, starring the stupendous Cynthia Erivo in her Broadway debut. For once, the word “revival” is apt: Doyle’s intervention amounts to a kind of theatrical CPR, restarting the heart of a show that, in its original production, seemed to die before your eyes. It was difficult then to diagnose the underlying cause; the songs, by the trio of Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, were unusually good, and Marsha Norman’s book made neat work of the difficult job of reshaping an epistolary text for the stage. The performances were fine. But something undermined those qualities, turning a story that was electrifying in print into a big, energy-sucking slog from...

Here is one of the great triumphal surprises in a Broadway season that has had its share of them: A revival of The Color Purple that lifts an already formidable musical into greatness just seven years after its initial run closed. Propelled by a pair of knockout performances from Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo, both making their Broadway debuts, this transfer from London’s Menier Chocolate Factory takes a minimalist visual approach to a story that sprawls across decades and continents, training the focus firmly on the twists and turns of Alice Walker’s highly populated, Brontë-worthy tale of a Southern black girl who survives poverty, rape and deprivation before finding love and accomplishment in womanhood.

Erivo, a UK musical theater and contemporary opera prodigy, plays Celie, a teenage girl living in rural Georgia in 1909 who has borne two children by Pa (Kevyn Morrow), the man she believes to be her father.

Grasan Kingsberry holds a Degree from Juilliard School in Dance and is now appearing in The Color Purple - The Musical starring Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo amp Danielle Brooks. This latest version of The Color Purple has been Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and a group of seasoned industry vets. Book by Marsha Norman, Music amp Lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis amp Stephen Bray all under the Direction of John Doyle.

Birthday shoutouts go to Ronan Keating (above), who is 37, Julie Bowen is 44, Ira Glass is 55, and Miranda Richardson is 56.

In great news, The Laramie Project writer Ross Katz has been hired by HBO to write Out At Home: The Glenn Burke Story, which will tell the story of the late baseball player, who came out to his teammates and management … back in the 70′s.

Last Night’s Academy Awards was the most watched in a decade.

Jared Leto’s Oscar Win For Dallas Buyers Club Criticized By Transgender Community.

And a lot of people are pissed at Ellen‘s “Good Job, Sir,” to Liza.

A Fox News Host Has Apologized For Making An Ignorant Statement. Per our agreement, I’m off to Calcutta to work with the poor.

Out Penn. Rep Brian Sims is running for re-election, and his opponents are already using his sexuality against him. You can help by donating to his campaign.

When Donna Summer passed away a year and a half ago (heaven knows, it’s not the way it should be), it was like a dagger in the heart for many of us who grew up listening to her music. The undisputed Queen Of Disco, she would make a successful transition out of the 70′s, and continue to churn out hits for years afterward.

Donna became “Born Again” in the early 80′s, and it would radically alter her career, as well as her relationship with the gay community. For 30 years, until her death, she was dogged by the rumor that she made a comment about AIDS being God’s punishment, and even though she vehemently denied it, It continued to persist.

It’s sad that an unprovable piece of gossip could tarnish her reputation for decades, but on this, her 65th birthday, we can take a look back at the legacy she left behind.

Birthday shoutouts go to Taylor Kitsch (above), who is 32, Patricia Arquette is 45, and Brenda Russell is 64.

Dan Savage has two questions about the death of Margaret Thatcher. In a less controversial passing, goodbye to the faboo Annette Funicello.Surprising no one, "Roger Ebert's Funeral To Be Picketed By Westboro Baptist Church."#nowthatchersdead. This is too funny.After just a few episodes, A&E has renewed Bates Motel for Season Two.Chord photobombs Diana and Darren.

Ed showed you this terrible commercial for Greek ticket company AirFastTravel last week, and now comes word that it's been pulled from the airwaves after complaints from Greece's trucker and Lgbt communities.

Introducing the children's coloring book Being Gay Is Okay.

Apparently there was a huge Twitter war yesterday involving whosit from One Direction and whatsisface from The Wanted, which culminated in that one guy crapping out this questionable tweet. Now Wheatus has weighed in.