A brand new trailer for the upcoming musical version of The Color Purple was released today that shows off beautiful period costumes, hints at musical numbers, and gives us a glimpse of out gay actor Colman Domingo’s turn as the villainous Mister.
In 1985 Steven Spielberg adapted Alice Walker’s heartbreaking and poignant novel The Color Purple, launching Whoopie Goldberg’s film career and showing the world that Oprah Winfrey wasn’t just a talk show host. Now, nearly 40 years later, we’re getting another adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winner — but this time, director Blitz Bazawule is using the musical stage play as its source material.
Set in early 1900s rural Georgia, the story follows Celie, a poor Black woman, and her family as she is forced to deal with abuse from almost every man whose path she crosses, including her husband Mister (Domingo).
Colman Domingo as Mister in 'The Color Purple.'
Courtesy of Warner Bros./Ser Baffo
Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks are reprising their Broadway roles, alongside Taraji P. Henson, Ciara, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi. Speilberg, Winfrey, and Quincy Jones (who created the music for the original movie) are all returning as producers this time.
The new trailer also gives us a sneak peek at the musical numbers that will set this adaptation apart from the 1985 version, including Henson’s song "Push Da Button." The fantasy song-and-dance numbers give this remake a magical realism bent that allows the audience to see inside of Celie’s imagination and gives her more agency than she’s had in past adaptations.
“I find that to be completely wrong,” Bazawule said in an interview with the New York Times. “The abused are constantly working their way out of it. And if we were just in their heads, we will know that they are not just sitting and waiting for a savior. Celie was actively saving herself.”
In Speilberg's version, the lesbian relationship at the heart of the novel was put front and center, so we're hopeful we'll get a fully fleshed-out relationship between Celie and Shug in the new film too. When trying to convince Barrino to take on the complex character of Celie, Bazawule assured her by showing the actress a rough cut of a dream sequence between the two lovers. “I said, ‘We’re going to go there — you know, we’ll have a 50-piece orchestra. It’s going to be wild,’” Bazawule said.
The Color Purple will premiere in theaters on December 25. Watch the trailer below.
