The Color Purple (1985 VS 2023): 3 Times, The Latest Release Is Ahead Of The OG Film By Steven Spielberg ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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The Color Purple is based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Alice Walker. In 1985, Steven Spielberg adapted the novel and made it into a film. After over three decades, director Blitz Bazawule again brought the story to the silver screen with Fantasia Barrino in the lead. Recently, we did a report comparing the two films’ opening day collections, and today, we compare their budget and Rotten Tomatoes score. Keep scrolling to get the deets.
The 1985 movie’s cast included Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Akosua Busia, Laurence Fishburne, Desreta Jackson, and others. The 2023 adaptation features Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Halle Bailey, and more in the cast. Spielberg, Oprah, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones have produced the latest version.
The Color Purple (2023) is ahead of the 1985 version in multiple ways – in terms of Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb scores or the film’s budgets and opening collections. It has also earned the highest-grossing Christmas Day opening and the second highest overall, after 2009’s Sherlock Holmes.
The Color Purple (2023) came out on Christmas and has already surpassed the 1985 version by Steven Spielberg in terms of the Rotten Tomatoes score. The Spielberg-helmed film has a 73% rating by the critics and an Audience Score of 94%. On the other hand, the Blitz-helmed movie has an 86% rating on the Tomatometer and an audience score of 95%.
The Color Purple’s IMDb Score
The 1985 movie has a rating of 7.7 out of 10 on IMDb, while the new film has opened to an 8.0/10.
Budget – 1985 VS 2023
The budgets of both films also differ a lot. The 1985 movie The Color Purple, as per The Numbers, was made on an estimated budget of $15 million. The latest release, starring Halle Bailey, Taraji P Henson, and Fantasia Berrino, had an estimated budget of $100 million per Variety and had already earned over $20 million in two days.
At the North American box office, the movie earned a whopping $18.1 million on its opening day, much more than the original film. Spielberg‘s version earned around $1.7 million on its opening weekend.
The Color Purple (1985) earned a staggering $98.4 million worldwide.
What is the movie The Color Purple about?
The Color Purple is the story of an African-American teenage girl, Celie, raised in rural Georgia in the early 1900s. It follows the struggles of Celie with her abusive father and husband.
The original movie reportedly faced a lot of criticism for showing the Black people in a very negative light. The latest version is also not free of scandal as Taraji, in an interview a few days back, revealed that she almost didn’t accept her role in the musical drama due to a pay disparity.
The Color Purple (2023) has been released on 25th December and is currently running at the theatres and you can check out our review of the film here.
