Early-birds have already screened The Color Purple, the upcoming musical adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1982 novel of the same name, the subsequent 1985 film by Steven Spielberg (which featured one of Whoopi Goldberg’s best performances as well as Oprah Winfrey in a career-defining role) and the 2005 Broadway production. And among those lucky first-watch moviegoers are some household names like Gwyneth Paltrow and Laura Dern.
Most movie lovers won't be able to see Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks and the rest of the 2023 Color Purple cast until the film hits theaters on December 25, but stars like Paltrow and Dern got the chance to see the Blitz Bazawule-directed flick early, per Instagram Stories that the Goop guru posted on Wednesday, December 13.
"About to watch The Color Purple, we looooove you @oprah," Paltrow captioned the first photo, which saw the Iron Man actress posing in a cinema room alongside Oscar winner Laura Dern, fashion designer Monique Lhuillier, film producer and political activist Nicole Avant and artist-poet Cleo Wade, among others.
Paltrow, of course, is referencing her longtime friend Oprah Winfrey, who acts as a producer on the new The Color Purple film alongside Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders.
In another Instagram Story, Paltrow showed the moviegoing group applauding the film, with the caption "OW Films 💜," another plug to her billionaire pal:
Along with starring as Sofia in the Spielberg pic (for which she received a 1986 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress) Winfrey also produced the original Broadway show of The Color Purple, which was also highly acclaimed, winning two Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical. The new movie features members from the stage productions, including Danielle Brooks, who took on the role of Sofia herself in the 2015 Broadway revival and reprises the character in the musical drama film.
It was Oprah herself that reportedly gave Brooks the news that she was cast for the iconic role in the film, with the mogul telling CBS News: "I wanted to make the call myself because Sofia had been such an iconic part of me and The Color Purple has been such an amazing part of my life.
I wanted to make the call myself because Sofia had been such an iconic part of me and The Color Purple has been such an amazing part of my life.
As for passing the baton to the Orange is the New Black actress, Winfrey added:
We both hugged and cried after she finished. It is officially done. You have taken it and made it yours. It is officially done.
Brooks took the "responsibility" of playing the beloved character very seriously and also praised Winfrey for being "a voice" for her.
I have a responsibility to all of the Sofias that are living in this world. They need a voice that needs somebody to speak for them which she was for me and now I can be for someone else.
Given that The Color Purple is one of the most-anticipated titles on the 2023 movie schedule, there will undoubtably be other fellow famous theatergoers joining Paltrow, Dern and their big-name buddies in flocking to the cinemas to check it out on Christmas Day and beyond.
