Halle Bailey interrupted her The Little Mermaid press run to share the first-look trailer for The Color Purple. “Taking a second from mermaid press to say i’m so grateful to be apart of this project as well. another dream come true on christmas day,” Bailey tweeted along with the trailer on Monday (May 22).
taking a second from mermaid press to say i’m so grateful to be apart of this project as well. another dream come true 🥹on christmas day 😍🎉 https://t.co/D9zDnzRzY8
— Halle (@HalleBailey) May 22, 2023
“Today, our teacher taught us about a place called Africa,” Bailey says as young Nettie Harris tells her older sister Celie played by Fantasia. “She say our mamas come from queens over there. That means that we? Royalty.”
The upcoming movie-musical adaptation of The Color Purple is produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones. The trailer gives fans a first look at the all-star cast. The 2023 film will star Fantasia (Celie), Halle Bailey (young Nettie), Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery), Danielle Brooks (Sophia), H.E.R. (Squeak), Corey Hawkins (Harpo) and Colman Domingo (Mister), among others.
RELATED: Fantasia, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey To Star In 'The Color Purple' Musical Film
The Color Purple has been seen in many forms over the years. The novel, written by Alice Walker, was released in 1982. The critically-acclaimed novel received a 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Later it was adapted by Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg in 1985, which starred Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Akosua Busia, Laurence Fishburne, and more. It then transformed into a Broadway musical in 2005 which was later revived in 2015.
Some of the new cast members for the 2023 adaptation are no strangers to their characters. Fantasia previously played Celie in 2007 on Broadway and then during the play’s national tour. Danielle Brooks played Sofia once before in the musical’s 2015 Broadway revival.
The new rendition of The Color Purple will be the first time the Broadway musical is brought to the screen other than Spielberg’s 1985 version, which was not a musical. The Color Purple is scheduled to hit theaters on Christmas Day (Dec. 25). Watch the trailer below.