“The Color Purple” opened at number 1 yesterday by a wide margin.
The tremendous reimagining of the Steven Spielberg classic film scored $18.15 million on Christmas Day and won the box office. It was the biggest Christmas Day opening since 2009 and the 2nd biggest of all time.
What a triumph! I told you this film was going to be big and that its cast and director for headed for a lot of awards.
The huge box office comes from a ton of promotion helped by Oprah Winfrey, “The View” host Whoopi Goldberg (who starred in the original film), and lots of media including a big appearance on The Jennifer Hudson talk show.
Early reviews were incredibly enthusiastic, as well. Yesterday’s showings proved them right as Cinemascore gives “The Color Purple” an A from first day audiences. Warner’s says the audience was 65% African American. Atlanta led the way among urban locations, followed by New York, LA, Chicago, and Washington DC. When word spreads the film should “cross over” into other audiences, too.
The box office win also means that Warner Bros. has the numbers 1, 2, and 3 movies on Christmas Day with “Color Purple,” “Aquaman 2,” and “Wonka.”
The other new Christmas films — “The Boys in the Boat” and “Ferrari” — came in at less thrilling numbers 4 and 6. Of the two, “Boys” has a chance of capturing family audiences this week.
For “The Color Purple,” opening day is really exciting. Stars Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins et al, led by director Blitz Bazawule now get a huge boost for the Oscars and SAG Awards. They are absolutely headed to Best Ensemble at SAG and a Best Picture nomination from the Oscars. The actors should all make it in easily.
