Warner Bros. has announced a release date for its feature film adaptation of the The Color Purple musical. The movie is currently slated to hit theatres December 20, 2023.
The title is one of three releases newly penciled in by the studio, according to The Hollywood Reporter; it’s joined by Furiosa (a spinoff of the Mad Max franchise) and the Looney Tunes-inspired Coyote vs. Acme.
As previously announced, Blitz Bazawule, who co-helmed Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King, will direct, with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders, and Steven Spielberg as producers. Marcus Gardley has been tapped to pen the screenplay, adapted from Marsha Norman’s book and Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray’s score (as well as, of course, the Alice Walker novel).
News of the in-development project initially arrived on the heels of the acclaimed 2015 Broadway staging, which saw now-Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo in a star-making turn as Celie alongside Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and Danielle Brooks. No official word yet on casting for the film.
