Oprah Winfrey’s The Color Purple Trailer

The latest big-screen adaptation of The Color Purple won’t be in theaters until this winter, but fans got a peek of what the Blitz Bazawule-directed film will look like today when its first trailer was released.

The film, which stars Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, and Halle Bailey, among others, is based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1992 novel The Color Purple. Walker’s classic tells the story of a young woman named Celie and her trials growing up in the early 20^th century in Georgia; the book deals with heavy topics including domestic violence and sexual assault, but also underscores the importance of friendship, sisterhood, and believing in oneself no matter the odds. The book was adapted for a 1985 film, directed by Steven Spielberg, which earned 11 Oscar nominations, and later for a 2005 Broadway musical that earned 11 Tony Award nominations and was revived to massive fanfare in 2015. Bazawule’s film includes songs from the Broadway production as well as new numbers

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“How do you create something that’s new but honors the source,” the directed asked during a release event today. “That was the job. This Color Purple is for a new generation; the context of The Color Purple is evergreen… if you look out your window, it’s happening today. I knew I could lean into what’s new about it, but knew it comes with a history.”

Oprah Winfrey, who serves as a producer on the new film and starred as Sofia in the 1985 version agrees that the story is important to tell again. “The reason this moment is so important is that for as long as there is need for self-discovery, self-empowerment, as long as there is a need for victory in someone’s life… there will be a need for The Color Purple,” she says. “This story never grows old.”

Winfrey continues, “This movie is a revival for joy, a revival for hope, for forgiveness.”

The Color Purple will be in theaters on December 25, 2023.