‘The Dropout’s’ Elizabeth Marvel Joins Blitz Bazawule’s ‘The Color Purple’ Musical Movie (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

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.

Directed by Bazawule (best known for his work on Beyoncé’s “Black is King,” “The Burial of Kojo” and “Cherish the Day”), from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley (“The Chi”), the story spotlights Celie (Fantasia Barrino, in in her feature film debut), a Black woman whose personal awakening in the American South of the early 20th century is at the center of this epic story.

Told through a lens of magical realism, dance and an uplifting musical score infused with African American jazz, gospel and blues, the movie aims to astonish lovers of earlier adaptations and introduce these beloved characters to a new generation.Marvel will assume the role of Miss Millie — the unpleasant and overbearing mayor’s wife who hires Sofia (played by Danielle Brooks in the forthcoming adaptation) to be her maid.