With the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time, surpassing expectations, the musical adaptation of The Color Purple earned a solid $18 million from 3,152 theaters in North America – the largest Christmas Day opening since 2009.
According to Variety, The Color Purple remake of the 1985 hit film, now on the silver screen as a musical, is successfully resonating at the box office, thanks to positive reviews and an impressive “A” CinemaScore. Directed by Blitz Bazawule and distributed by Warner Bros., the film collected more in one day than recent stage-to-screen stories like “West Side Story” ($10.5 million), “In the Heights” ($11 million), “Dear Evan Hansen” ($7.5 million), and “Cats” ($6.6 million) earned in their opening weekends.
Glowing reviews are also pouring in for Fantasia Barrino, for her outstanding performance in the lead role as Celie, a downtrodden Black woman in 1900s Georgia who overcomes one abusive relationship after another to overcome her station and life and find both success and acceptance. Barrino’s exceptional acting and singing talent are showcased in the film and the actress’s admission that she has experienced some of the troubles as her character results in an ultimately spell-binding performance.
The film also includes outstanding performances from Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, and Halle Bailey. Even Whoopi Goldberg, who portrayed Celie in the original version, makes a cameo appearance.
