By CLTure
December 26, 2023
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
The musical film adaptation of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning Alice Walker novel, The Color Purple, opened in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, raking in $18.1 million at the box office– the largest Christmas Day opening since 2009. Starring North Carolina’s own Fantasia Barrino (Celie), who celebrated the film in Charlotte (where she currently resides) over the weekend with a private screening at Regal Stonecrest in Piper Glen, features a star-studded cast that includes Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Jon Batiste, and Louis Gossett Jr. The film beat out some stiff competition on Christmas Day, outperforming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wonka, and The Boys in the Boat.
Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones, the musical film adaptation is directed by Ghanaian filmmaker and artist Blitz Bazawule, based on the 2015 revival of the award-winning Broadway musical production, which originally debuted in 2005.
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Barrino, the High Point, North Carolina native and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter who won American Idol in 2004, portrayed the character of Celie in the original Broadway musical production of The Color Purple from 2007 to 2008. She recently earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (musical or comedy) for the film, and is a frontrunner for a Best Actress nomination at the 96th Academy Awards. Barrino is also scheduled to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 2024 College Football National Championship game on Monday, January 8.
Watch the official trailer for The Color Purple, now playing in theaters nationwide.
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