Hollywood is remaking another Broadway musical following the critical success of West Side Story, In the Heights, and Tick, Tick… BOOM!
Warner Bros. is remaking The Color Purple, which was already adapted as a movie once in the 1980s by Steven Spielberg.
This time around, a person of color will direct the movie, with Blitz Bazawule signing on to direct the movie, Blitz previously directed the visual album Black is King with Beyonce.
As for the lead roles, Blitz has tapped an American Idol alumni to play the role of Celie.
Fantasia joining The Color Purple movie
The Color Purple is based on the classic novel by Alice Walker.
In the story, Celie is a Black Southern woman who struggles to find where she fits into the world after years of living with abuse.
In the Steven Spielberg movie, Whoopi Goldberg played Celie.
This role is also not new for Fantasia, as she has played Celie in the Broadway stage adaptation. Also joining the movie is Danielle Brooks from Orange is the New Black. She will play Sofia, a role she also played in the Broadway play.
However, the two have never performed together.
Fantasia was Celie in the 2007 run and Brooks played Sofia in the 2015 revival. Brooks picked up a Tony nomination for her performance.
Sofia is the opposite of Celie, as her husband tried to abuse her and she fought back and ended up leaving with their children. However, life soon beats her down as well and she and Celie end up relying on each other to gain control of their lives.
Fantasia’s career since American Idol
Fantasia was a contestant on the third season of American Idol. She won that season and went on to release a debut album that went platinum.
However, she found more success even outside of her music.
This all started in 2007 when she joined the cast of The Color Purple on Broadway where she won the 2007 Theater World Award.
In 2013, she returned to Broadway for the musical After Midnight.
Through it all, she has continued to make music and has received 12 Grammy nominations, winning three of them.
This season on American Idol, the show will bring back contestants from past seasons to serve as mentors, and Fantasia is one of the singers who could possibly return for this role.
American Idol Season 20 premieres on Sunday, February 27, 2022, at 8/7c on ABC.