“The Color Purple” Trailer: Fantasia Barrino stars in the first look at the film’s musical

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning book to the Oscar-nominated film to the Tony Award-winning musical, the beloved story of Alice Walker The Color Purple has been translated up to multiple mediums. Now the musical comes to life on the big screen, directed by Blitz Bazawule.

On Monday, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for the upcoming film, ahead of its Christmas Day release date later this year.

The trailer follows Celie (the younger version is played by Phylicia Mpasi and the adult version by Fantasia Barrino), after she is separated from her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey, Ciara). In the years to come, the film explores Celie’s series of lifelong struggles as a black woman living in the early 1900s American South.

In a virtual Q&A before the trailer’s release, producer Oprah Winfrey and director Bazawule discussed the making of the film and the impact of Walker’s short story, first published as a novel in 1982.

“As long as there is a need for people to feel what it means to be loved…there will be a need The Color Purple,” Winfrey said. “I think in the future this story will grow and never get old.”

He added: “It’s a classic, it’s iconic. To be able to go into that with the audacity of the vision that Blitz had for this movie and create this magically crafted version, where we actually go inside Celie’s head is pretty amazing.

“Every time I was on set, I was like the spoiled director,” Bazawule said. “The amount of talent, skill and brilliance was through the roof.” Hero american idol-Barrino winner as Celie, the cast also includes Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, HER, Corey Hawkins and Aunjanue Ellis.

With a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, the film will feature songs from the musical, including “I’m Here” which is sampled in the trailer.

“Music is needed,” Winfrey said. “This music comes from the soul of storytelling. And when people sing, they sing because they have nothing else to do to express the moment but sing.”

The musical film comes nearly four decades after Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed 1985 film, which starred Whoopi Goldberg, Winfrey, Danny Glover and Margaret Avery. Winfrey earned an Academy Award nomination for the film. This time around, Spielberg is back to produce, alongside Winfrey, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones.