Watch the First Trailer For 'The Color Purple,' a Musical Adaptation of the Acclaimed Novel
Adapted from the first novel by a Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Color Purple gets its first trailer — a tense story of sisterhood and heritage.
The rollout for The Color Purple has begun. On Monday (May 22), Warner Bros. Pictures revealed the long-awaited trailer for the Blitz Bazawule movie-musical, which stars Fantasia Barrino-Taylor (Celie), Danielle Brooks (Sofia), Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery), H.E.R. (Squeak), Colman Domingo (Mister), in addition to Halle Bailey,Corey Hawkins, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, David Alan-Grier, Ciara, Jon Batiste, and Deon Cole.
The Color Purple is based on the 1982 Alice Walker novel of the same name, which was followed by a non-musical film in 1985 starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Laurence Fishburne, and more. 20 years later, a Broadway musical adaption of the book and film would debut.
Social media raved for the trailer upon its release, including star Halle Bailey, who took a break from her press tour for The Little Mermaid to share her gratitude for being a part of The Color Purple.
The film is also Barrino-Taylor’s theatrical debut, as she originally played Celie in The Color Purple Tony-nominated Broadway musical from 2007 to 2008 and its national tour from 2009 to 2010. The 38-year-old succeeded original theater actress and vocalist LaChanze.
A press release for the trailer says that the upcoming film will be a "bold new take on the beloved classic," which centers "the extraordinary sisterhood of three women who share one unbreakable bond."
Winfrey serves as producer of the film, alongside Quincy Jones, Steven Spielberg, and Scott Sanders.
“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,” Winfrey said about the need to revive The Color Purple, per Variety.
The Color Purple comes to theaters on December 25. Watch the trailer below.