Oprah Winfrey to bring ‘Color Purple’ musical to big screen
OPRAH Winfrey is bringing a musical version of ‘ The Color Purple’ to the big screen.
The 64-year- old media mogul and music legend Quincy Jones are to produce an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning stage musical, alongside Steven Spielberg — who directed the 1986 movie adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel — and the Broadway production’s producer Scott Sanders on behalf of Warner Bros.
Spielberg’s movie — in which Winfrey appeared alongside lead actress Whoopi Goldberg — and the stage production adapted Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which spans several decades and tells the story of a black woman named Celie, whose faith in God and other people is tested by the harsh poverty and ill treatment at the hands of her stepfather and husband, amongst others, that she experiences throughout her life.
The new movie will be based on the stage show, which hit Broadway in 2005 and won two Tony awards when it was revived in 2016.
Sanders said: “We’re really excited to create a fi lm that translates the heart and emotion we found in telling this generational story on stage. This is an incredibly powerful drama that needs to be shared.”
The project is currently in the early stages of development and will next be looking for a writer and director.
It is not yet known who will be cast in the fi lm, but ‘ Widows’ actress Cynthia Erivo, who starred in the Broadway revival, is tipped to portray Celie once again.
Spielberg’s movie received 11 Academy Award nominations, including nods for both Goldberg and Winfrey, but failed to win, though the fi lmmaker was honoured with a Directors Guild of America Award for outstanding directorial achievement. — BANG Showbiz
We’re really excited to create a film that translates the heart and emotion we found in telling this generational story on stage. This is an incredibly powerful drama that needs to be shared. Scott Sanders, Broadway producer