Marcus Gardley: Last News

William Earl administrator The 2024 Independent Spirit Awards are taking place on Sunday at the traditional Santa Monica beach tent location, with Aidy Bryant set to host. “Past Lives,” “May December” and “American Fiction” are leading the pack of nominees with five nods each.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Close (Killers of the Flower Moon) has signed on to star in American Solitaire, an indie drama marking the first feature from writer-director Aaron Davidman.

Warner Bros. PIctures’ The Color Purple will make its streaming debut on Max on February 16.

Director Steven Spielberg’s 1985 version of Alice Walker’s classic, “The Color Purple,” has always been heavily debated. Many knock it for being too tidy and toning down the lesbian love story at its heart. Others, though, consider it a classic and a film that has withstood the test of time a lot better than the movie it lost the Best Picture Oscar to, “Out of Africa.”

The movie musical The Color Purple is now in theaters and it features an exciting cameo from a beloved star.

The Color Purple often succeeds as a thoughtful fusion of two other adaptations of Alice Walker’s landmark novel that still confidently hums its own tune.In shakier moments, though, confidence gives way to nostalgia, when the film hammers home its reinterpretations of quotable scenes and dialogue from the Quincy Jones-produced, Steven Spielberg-directed 1985 adaptation with an insistence that borders on flashing “Hey, remember this?” in bold type onscreen.Creating and saying something new with such proven material, while also purposely coaxing audience sentiment for a beloved original, surely posed a formidable challenge for Bazawule and company. And having Jones, Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey — the big guns and big breakout from the 1985 film — onboard as producers must have eased and complicated the gig in unfathomable ways.Oprah and Jones also had a hand in the original Broadway musical adaptation, which has spun off its own lore and legacy, and adds another meta layer of pop-lit gloss to what this film aims to freshly reinterpret.The stage musical — with a book by Marsha Norman, and lyrics and music by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray — has amassed its own roster of breakout stars, including American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, who made her 2007 Broadway debut stepping into the lead role of Celie, and Orange Is the New Black‘s Danielle Brooks, Tony-nominated for playing Sofia opposite Cynthia Erivo in the 2015 Broadway revival.Barrino and Brooks reprise their respective roles here with a lived-in grace and fortitude that does freshly illuminate Walker’s moving narrative, the lifeblood that courses through every iteration.

Variety asks directors and writers to write about the films that resonated most deeply with them, relating what makes these selected works special, memorable and endearing both to them and audiences overall. In the following 13 essays, screenwriters commend their fellow scribes for crafting memorable tales that traverse fantasy and fiction, depict figures both imaginative and historical, and span from Barbieland to New York City.

Alice Walker started the phenomenon with her 1982 Pulitizer Prize winning book, and three years later Steven Spielberg turned it into a movie that won 11 Oscar nominations. In 2005 it took on new life as a Broadway musical, and in 2015 that musical got a Tony and Grammy winning revival.

Some of Hollywood’s best and brightest stars walked the red carpet at the world premiere of The Color Purple on Wednesday night (December 6) in Los Angeles.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Without giving away a single favorite thing, Oprah Winfrey brought the house down with a surprise appearance at CinemaCon 2023. Revelers at the annual convention of movie theater owners were delighted by the mogul’s cameo at Tuesday’s presentation from Warner Bros. Pictures. Winfrey is a producer on the studio’s upcoming movie musical “The Color Purple,” based on the 1985 Steven Spielberg classic in which the former daytime host starred. “‘The Color Purple,’ in 1985 was the biggest and most important thing that happened to me. This is a full circle moment to be part of this film. It holds great personal meaning,” Winfrey told the crowd.

Dr. Dre's prognosis didn't look good after he suffered a brain aneurysm in January 2021.

Dr. Dre‘s prognosis didn’t look good after he suffered a brain aneurysm in January 2021. In fact, things looked so bleak doctors thought the rap mogul was going to die, so they invited his family to the hospital to say their “last goodbyes.”

Gallery: From SKINNING SQUIRRELS to BALLET DANCING. . . You'll never believe the skills these actors learned for their movies (BANG Showbiz)Blitz Bazawule, the filmmaker behind Beyonce's 'Black Is King', will direct the fresh take on the musical.

Hot off his five Grammy wins including Album of the Year this month, Oscar winner Jon Batiste has joined the remake of The Color Purple, whose producers include Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones.

Angelique Jackson Elizabeth Marvel (Hulu’s “The Dropout,” “News of the World”) has joined the star-studded cast of Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of “The Color Purple”.The forthcoming Warner Bros. musical movie is an adaptation of Alice Walker’s iconic American novel, as well as the Oscar-nominated 1985 film and Tony Award-winning Broadway musical that it inspired.Production is currently underway for the project in Georgia, where the story is set.

H.E.R. is gearing up to for her first major film role and the celebrated songstress is seriously looking forward to the opportunity to finally dive into acting.The singer spoke with ET's Lauren Zima at the Billboard Women in Music Awards at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, on Wednesday, and opened up about being cast in the upcoming  movie, adapted from the Broadway musical.«Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe it,» the singer said of finding out she'd been tapped to play Squeak in the film.

Hollywood staple Taraji P Henson proved on Thursday evening that she looks much younger than her years.The 51-year-old actress looked stunning as she showed off her long toned legs in a sparkly mini dress with a pair of knockout heels while at the11th Annual NFL Honors at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California.The star is best known for playing Cookie Lyon on Empire and will soon star as Shug in The Color Purple. Stunner:Hollywood staple Taraji P Henson proved on Thursday evening that she looks much younger than her yearsTaraji's figure looked impressive in the little black dress which had silver and maroon accents on it that shone under the lights.Her legs were toned and shiny as she wore strappy black heels with black toe nail polish.

The Color Purple for a new generation. The 1985 historical drama based on the Alice Walker novel delved into the intimate suffering of Southern Black women in a way rarely portrayed in mainstream productions. 

Angelique Jackson Blitz Bazawule’s “The Color Purple” movie musical has found its Celie and Sofia in Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.Both actors reprise their respective roles from the stage musical, where Barrino made her Broadway debut in 2007 following her “American Idol” win, and Brooks earned a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Sofia in the 2015 revival.Barrino and Brooks’ casting was announced on Thursday as part of the ABC News special “Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising.” During the broadcast, “ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis interviewed the women about reprising their roles for the film.The upcoming Warner Bros. movie is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, which is itself an adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Taraji P. Henson's itch to sing has been scratched. The Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress is set to star as Shug Avery in, ET has confirmed.The 51-year-old actress will join H.E.R.

Taraji P. Henson has signed on to star alongside H.E.R. and Corey Hawkins in Blitz Bazawule’s (Black Is King) adaptation of The Color Purple for Warner Bros., Deadline has confirmed.