Friday, March 29, 2024

‘Black Is King’ Co-director Blitz Bazawule to Direct ‘The Color Purple’ Feature Musical

Blitz Bazawule - SCAD aTVfest 2020 - "Cherish The Day"
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*The co-director of Beyoncé’s Disney+ visual album “Black Is King,” is set to direct a movie musical based on the Tony-winning Broadway reimagining of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel “The Color Purple.”

Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones are reportedly behind the project for Warner Bros. Director Blitz Bazawule reportedly caught their attention with his movie “The Burial Of Kojo” on Netflix.  The film won Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema) at Urbanworld Film Festival. It also won the Grand Prize at the 2019 Luxor African Film Festival in Egypt.

“We were all blown away by Blitz’s unique vision as a director and look forward to seeing how he brings the next evolution of this beloved story to life,” Winfrey tells Deadline..

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Marcus Gardley is writing the screenplay, with music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray.

EPs are Walker, Rebecca Walker, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Carla Gardini and Mara Jacobs, according to the report.

Spielberg directed the 1985 film “The Color Purple” starring Winfrey, Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which Jones produced. 

Spielberg is producing Bazawule’s musical alongside Winfrey. His film adaptation received 11 Oscar-nominations. Winfrey made her feature debut in the original movie and earned a Supporting Actress Oscar nom. The media mogul, Jones and Sanders also produced the Broadway musical.

Cynthia Erivo portrayed Celie in the 2015 revival, and won the Tony Award for lead actress in a musical.

Bazawule co-directed Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King,” alongside the singer and Emmanuel Adjei.

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