*Taraji P. Henson has been tapped to star as Shug Avery in Blitz Bazawule’s “The Color Purple.”
As reported by Variety, the forthcoming Warner Bros. movie musical is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical from Marsha Norman, Brenda Lee, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel by Alice Walker.
The upcoming film follows the classic 1985 film adaptation from director Steven Spielberg and centers on Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity amid decades of abuse. Whoopi Goldberg played Celie in Spielberg’s film.
Spielberg’s film was a box office success, grossing $142 million against a budget of $15 million.
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Bazawule will direct the movie musical from a script penned by Marcus Gardley (“The Chi”) and based on Alice Walker’s novel. Bazawule is best known for his work on Beyoncé’s “Black is King,” “The Burial of Kojo” and “Cherish the Day.”
Spielberg, Quincy Jones (who produced Spielberg’s 1985 version) and Oprah Winfrey (who starred in the film and was nominated for an Oscar) signed on as producers for Bazawule’s project in 2018, around the time the project was first announced.
Henson joins previously announced stars Corey Hawkins (as Harpo) and singer H.E.R. has been cast as Squeak (played by Rae Dawn Chong in Spielberg’s film).
The movie is currently set to be released on December 20, 2023.
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