The Color Purple is breaking records and exceeding expectations after its recent premiere on Christmas Day.
Initially expected to rake in totals between $8 million and $12 million, the film topped the Christmas Day box office with a whopping $18 million debut – the largest debut for a movie since 2009.
According to Variety, the Warner Bros.-backed film earned the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time and outperformed the last three musicals released in theaters, including West Side Story.
Directed by Blitz Bazawule, with a screenplay by Marcus Gardley, the movie stars Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Ciara, and more. It is a reimagining of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and its Broadway musical of the same name.
