Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of The Color Purple was a big success. The stage musical of The Color Purple was a big success. So why not combine those two things and make a crazy success Voltron? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg, Quincy Jones, and Oprah Winfrey (who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the original film) are producing a screen adaptation of the Broadway musical version of Alice Walker’s book. The stage show won two Tony Awards, one for Best Revival of a Musical and another for Actress In A Leading Role in a Musical, which went to Cynthia Erivo.
The 1985 film garnered 11 Academy Award nominations, though was not awarded any trophies — so it seems like a fine time to change that! In addition to Erivo’s Tony recognition, Danielle Brooks was also nominated for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Purple, and both of those actresses are pretty great screen talents so it seems like they should be recruited for this project as soon as possible. And we we were thinking that Erivo would get her Academy Award for that Harriet Tubman biopic she’s starring in. Life comes at you fast!