Released on Christmas Day, The Color Purple, the new musical film based on Alice Walker's 1982 iconic novel, the 1985 film, and the 2005 Broadway musical, grossed $18.2 million--the second-highest domestic opening for a film on December 25. Its box office take already totals $50 million, and it opens internationally later this month.
A joint production of Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones, directed by Blitz Bazawule (Black Is King), and written by Marcus Gardley (The Chi) based on the musical by Marsha Norman, The Color Purple stars Fantasia Barrino, who reprises her Broadway role as Celie; Danielle Brooks as Sofia; Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery; Colman Domingo as Mister; H.E.R. as Squeak; Halle Bailey as Young Nettie; Corey Hawkins as Harpo; and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Mama.
Whoopi Goldberg, who played Celie in the 1985 film, appears in this one as a midwife who helps young Celie give birth. Besides Goldberg and Danny Glover, another veteran from the original film is co-producer Winfrey, who played Sofia in 1985. Speaking about having a second film of The Color Purple, Winfrey 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."
Reviewers have mostly praised the movie. The Rotten Tomatoes' critics consensus is: "Building on the legacy of the previous film adaptation while incorporating elements of the stage musical, The Color Purple is a crowd-pleasing testament to resilience in the face of trauma." Already the film has received two Golden Globe nominations and five nominations at the Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture.
Still, several critics have noted that the book, which in 1983 won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction, offers a perspective and intimacy that film has difficulty replicating. And so we highly recommend the book, which is available from Penguin Books ($18).