The Color Purple achieves historic Christmas opening day at box office

❘ Published: 2023-12-27T10:32:37

Warner Bros.

The 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple is finally here – and has made box office history during its Christmas opening day.

Starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, and American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple is a musical adaptation of the 1982 novel by Alice Walker.

Walker’s novel was first brought to screens in 1985 – starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover – which was then adapted into a Broadway musical in 2005.

Now the Broadway version has got the adaptation treatment, here’s everything you need to know about how much The Color Purple has made at the box office.

The Color Purple box office: How much has it made?

The Color Purple pulled in a cool $18 million on its opening day, making it the best-performing Christmas debut since 2009.

“The Color Purple” has the largest Christmas Day opening for a film since 2009, and the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all timehttps://t.co/SOaCtYhP2u
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 26, 2023

According to a report from Variety, this also makes The Color Purple the second-biggest festive opening of all time, falling just behind the 2009 Christmas Day release of Sherlock Holmes.

The movie pulled in $18 million from 3,152 North American theaters, beating out competition including Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Aquaman 2, and Paul King’s Wonka. George Clooney’s sports biopic The Boys in the Boat also fell down the rafters of box office success.

In international territories such as the U.K., The Color Purple won’t be released until January 2024, meaning there could be an even bigger uptick in box office numbers still to come.

How big is The Color Purple’s budget?

The Color Purple had a budget of $90 million, with the original 1985 movie only having $15 million.

It’s not too surprising that the 2023 adaptation has upped the numbers of its budget – both given the time period and who the producers are behind the movie itself.

The Color Purple boasts three titan powerhouses as its immediate producers – director of the 1985 film Steven Spielberg, original cast member Oprah Winfrey, and record producer Quincy Jones. Creator of the Broadway show Scott Sanders also joins the trio.

Speaking on CBS News, Oprah Winfrey said about Danielle Brooks in her original role of Sofia “”We both hugged and cried after she finished. It is officially done. You have taken it and made it yours. It is officially done.”

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