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The Color Purple trailer is here, and it charts a decades-spanning reimagining of the classic tale. Based on the Tony Award-winning musical from Scott Sanders, which is based in turn on Alice Walker’s seminal 1982 novel, the new version tells Miss Celie’s timeless story.
The first teaser begins with the young version of our heroine (played by newcomer Phylicia Mpasi) and her sister Nettie (The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey) growing up together. Full of joy and innocence, everything changes for them when Celie marries Albert Johnson (Colman Domingo), and their lives are put on separate paths.
As the trailer continues, the story charts her life as we see her grow into an adult (where she’s played by Fantasia Barrino) and meet the women who’ll change her future in beautiful ways. Among them are Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Taraji P. Henson as Shug, and H.E.R. as Mary. And, of course, the iconic music features throughout too as the trailer is soundtracked by a spell-binding performance of 'I’m Here'.
The new movie is directed by Blitz Bazawule, previously known for his films The Burial of Kojo and Black is King. At an event attended by Total Film online to mark the trailer launch, Bazawule said this adaptation is all about recognizing what came before.
"It’s like, 'How do you create something that is new, but honors the source?' That was the job," he explained. "We know that this Color Purple is for a new generation. The context is evergreen, as long as there continue to be issues of gender bias, issues of domestic abuse, issues of racial inequality, and penal systems that have bias. All these things are central to what The Color Purple is – and if you look out your window, it’s happening today."
This process of honoring the story was helped by including some talent very familiar with adapting Walker’s beloved novel. The movie is produced by Oprah Winfrey, who starred as Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version, while Spielberg himself is also back to produce alongside Quincy Jones and Sanders.
At the same trailer launch, Winfrey shared how the movie marks a "full circle moment" for her. "The Color Purple changed the trajectory of my life," she said of the process of handing the baton to the next generation. "It was the beginning of the ascension of everything that happened in my life, so it was emotional."
Not only this, but it will also right some of the wrongs of the 1985 movie too as well, where Winfrey’s name didn’t make it onto the poster. "It's such a joy now," she smiles, "My name wasn’t on the poster, but it is on the trailer for the reimagined bold new take on The Color Purple almost 40 years later."
Above all, both Winfrey and Bazawule hope audiences will take joy away from the upcoming film. "I feel like often when we think about specifically African American life, there's a tendency to kind of narrow it down to the struggles, but nobody gets here without the duality of joy and pain. And for me, I knew that it was going to be a triumphant journey through struggle."
The Color Purple will be released in the UK and Ireland on January 26, 2024, and in the US on December 25, 2023. For more upcoming movies, check out our guides to 2023 movie release dates.
