On Monday afternoon, a trailer was shared for the long-awaited movie musical version of the beloved movie classic The Color Purple.
The film, which is directed by Blitz Bazawule, has big producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg behind them.
And there’s an impressive cast.
American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino reprises her Broadway role as Celie Harris Johnson with Phylicia Mpasi as young Celie.
Ciara is Nettie Harris and Halle Bailey from The Little Mermaid is young Nettie.
Rounding out the cast are Taraji P Henson as the flamboyant blues singer Shug Avery, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, HER as Mary Agnes (Squeak), and Corey Hawkins as Harpo Johnson.
A first look: Monday afternoon, a trailer was shared for the long-awaited musical film version of the beloved film classic The Color Purple. Here’s American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino reprising her Broadway role as Celie Harris Johnson
The sultry siren with a heart: Rounding out the cast is Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery
A lot of money: she arrives at the estate in a chic luxury convertible with driver
Colman Domingo is Albert ‘Mister’ Johnson and Louis Gossett Jr is Old Mister.
The movie has a seasoned past: it’s already been a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, an Oscar-nominated film, and a Tony Award-winning musical.
On Monday, the first official trailer was shared by Warner Bros.
The big-budget film is expected to release on Christmas Day 2023.
The Color Purple follows the painful life of Celie, an African-American teenager raised in isolation in rural Georgia.
She is a rebel who knows little while growing up in the South of the early 1900s. She doesn’t want to be a silent victim, so she fights her way through the hardships and eventually emerges victorious.
Celie recounts her life through painfully honest letters to God.
The trailer follows Celie after she divorces her sister Nettie.
A mentor: Suge’s influence over Celie is powerful, as she treats her kindly and showers her with scarlet lipstick during their girlhood
First act of kindness: Suge is the first person to treat Celie as something special, and she literally looks up to her here
The trailer opens with Nettie talking about Africa and how there are queens on the continent while telling her sibling that their family is royalty.
The sisters get along well as they clearly have a strong bond.
They are easily seen smiling while shopping in the dirt road. But heartbreak sets in as Celie is forced out of the house she had called home with a gunshot.
“All I have is my sister, she was the only one who ever loved me,” says Celie.
Taraji can then be seen in a red dress as the inimitable lounge singer Suge Avery. She then stops at the estate in a nice convertible while modeling an ivory outfit.
Her influence over Celie is powerful, as she treats her kindly and pampers her with scarlet lipstick during their girl bonding time in a bedroom.
She’s got the pipes: Fantasia is then seen singing a song on stage in a black and white floral print dress and giving her all
Villain: Colman Domingo is Albert ‘Mister’ Johnson and Louis Gossett Jr is Old Mister
They were so close: the sisters are seen as young girls before being ripped apart in the rural South
As they were: the siblings spent their days playing and laughing, until their lives were broken
“Oh dear loving God,” says Suge when she sees her friend in lipstick.
‘Sisters are forever’, is the slogan.
Fantasia is then seen singing a song on stage in a black and white floral print dress, and gives her all.
“A bold new take on the beloved classic,” reads the on-screen trailer at the end.
Spielberg’s critically acclaimed 1985 film, starring Winfrey as well as Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Margaret Avery, was a critical hit and box office hit.
Winfrey earned an Oscar nomination for the film.
Now Spielberg has returned to produce alongside Winfrey, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones.