As "The Color Purple" trailer dropped yesterday, the reception for the musical film has been overwhelmingly positive! With "American Idol" champ Fantasia Barrino starring as Celie, many people were wondering, would this land her an Academy Award?
Notably, Fantasia played Celie in the 2004 Broadway production, but she missed the chance on scoring a Tony Award because she was just a replacement actress.
Will Fantasia Win an Oscar for 'The Color Purple' Movie?
At the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Billboard Executive Digital Director Katie Atkinson and Billboard Managing Director Keith Caulfield discussed the recently-dropped new trailer of "The Color Purple" movie.
The possibility of the movie being nominated for a plethora of Academy Awards is very likely, considering the movie will be released on Christmas 2023, it would be a shoo-in for the Awards season circuit months after.
Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and Quincy Jones serve as executive producers for the 2023 movie musical adaptation and were also involved in the 1985 film. Winfrey starred as Sofia, Spielberg directed, and Jones managed the music in the film.
According to the podcast, the movie has Oscars printed on it, meaning the material would very much fare well on the Awards show. In the past, the 1985 film shocked everyone when it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, but went home with nothing.
The podcast also noted that since the new movie is a movie adaptation of the 2004 and 2015 musicals, it could appeal well to younger audiences with the "contemporary" and "interesting" take on the original material.
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Fantasia, on the other hand, could also be in the running for Best Actress. Whoopi Goldberg, who played Celie in the 1985 film was nominated for the same category. Notably, Fantasia missed the opportunity of being nominated at the Tony Awards after replacing LaChanze in the role in 2004.
LaChanze (2004) and Cynthia Erivo (2015) have both won Best Actress at the Tony Awards for the same character in "The Color Purple." With Goldberg being a strong contender back then, it would be likely that Fantasia would also score a nod, and possibly her own win.
'The Color Purple' Trailer
The Color Purple premieres on Dec. 25, 2023, in the United States but it would premiere on Jan. 18, 2023, internationally. It stars Fantasia, Halle Bailey, Ciara, H.E.R., Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, and Danielle Brooks, among many others.
Watch 'The Color Purple' trailer below:
