We've known for a few years that Warner Bros. was looking to turn the stage adaptation of 1985 drama The Color Purple into a movie. And Corey Hawkins is now in line to play a major role.
The new movie is coming together with Black Is King director Blitz Bazawule handling Marcus Gardley's script. Steven Spielberg (who directed the original film) is among the producers. His film adapted Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel, which follows the journey of Celie, an African-American woman in the deep South from the early to mid-20th century. Celie struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her stepfather, husband, and others over the course of four decades. Oprah Winfrey starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Margaret Avery, with the three actresses scoring Oscar nominations alongside the movie's Best Picture and Jones' twin nominations for the score and the original song 'Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)'. And the musical has been just as garlanded, with the Broadway run earning 11 Tony noms in 2006. Marsha Norman wrote the show's book, while the music and lyrics came from Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell and Alee Willis.
According to Deadline, Hawkins - who more than proved his musical chops earlier this year as Benny in In The Heights – is closing in on the role of Harpo Johnson. Will it all work out? We'll have to wait and see.