‘Black Is King’ director to helm ‘The Color Purple’ musical movie

It’s turning out to be one heck of a creative year for Blitz Bazawule. First, the Luxor African Film Festival winner co-directed Beyoncé’s powerful visual album Black is King, and now he’s been tapped to direct the upcoming musical film adaptation of The Color Purple.According to Deadline, Warner Bros. hired Bazawule after producers of the film—including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones—caught his 2018 Netflix entry The Burial of Kojo. The team was so impressed with his visual style that after a Zoom pitch call they jumped at the chance to hire him. “We were all blown away by Blitz’s unique vision as a director and look forward to seeing how he brings the next evolution of this beloved story to life,” Winfrey said.

Honored to reimagine Alice Walker's classic novel 'The Color Purple' for a new generation. Beyond grateful to have the legends Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders as my Producers alongside Warner Bros Studios. Get ready for something AMAZING!!????? https://t.co/F288L8FQBH

— Blitz Bazawule (@BlitzAmbassador) August 24, 2020

In addition to directing, Bazawule (AKA Blitz the Ambassador) has a serious resume as a composer and a musician. He has four studio albums, and according to the publication, the producers felt like that kind of a background was perfect in terms of bringing a musical of this magnitude to the big screen in a fresh new way.The Color Purple, aka the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker, has been reworked for audiences a few times over the years. There was the 1985 feature film from Spielberg that earned 11 Oscar nominations, including a Best Supporting Actress nod for Winfrey in her theatrical debut. Whoopi Goldberg (who also received an Oscar nomination for the leading role of Celie Johnson) and Danny Glover also starred.[video_embed id='2007350']RELATED: Does Beyoncé’s newest visual album ‘Black is King’ live up to the hype? [/video_embed]Two decades later in 2005, the original Broadway musical based on that book debuted. That show ran for 910 installments, earned an impressive 11 Tony Award ominations, and LaChanze landed a trophy for her own portrayal of Celie. Like in the book, the musical traces the stories of Black families and their relationships in early twentieth-century Georgia, but it also incorporates jazz, ragtime, gospel, blues and African rhythms into its narrative.The play was notably revived more recently in 2015, when it received four more Tony nominations and landed a win for Cynthia Erivo in her Broadway debut. This big-screen iteration will be based on that musical, but it will have a new screenplay written by Marcus Gardley (The Chi). Between Gardley and now Bazawule officially boarding the project, that means this thing is finally one step closer to actually being made. (It was first announced back in 2018.)So who will take over the role of Celie, who has previously been brought to life by the likes of Goldberg and Erivo? Some are guessing Erivo could take up the role again (fans are already saying “I’m Here” for that idea), but so far no one has spilled any casting details.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: The stars of TIFF '19 share the movies that changed their lives [/video_embed]