‘The Color Purple’ Remake Struggling At Box Office

 Oprah Winfrey's "The Color Purple" remake continues to struggle at the box office after an impressive start over the Christmas holiday following its Dec. 25 release.

The Broadway musical adaptation of Alice Walker's novel of the same name opened to $18.5 million on Christmas Day, thanks to group sales, The New York Times reports. The 2023 version stars Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo and Danielle Brooks.

Winfrey, who produced the film with Steven Spielberg, celebrated the response with a post on Instagram, “I am overwhelmed with gratitude. ... I'm excited for you all to buy tickets, wear purple and come in large numbers.

However, it appears that the film's initial response was short-lived: the film finished the New Year holiday weekend with a domestic gross of only $47.2 million – with Warner Bros. spending at least $90 million to make it. —after spending an additional $40 million to market it, the New York Times reported.

According to FrontPage Magazine, the film's sales fell 62% from its debut, and currently ranks 7th behind George Clooney's "The Boys in the Boat". It has grossed a total of $55 million so far.

In comparison, the original 1985 Spielberg version of "The Color Purple" — which starred Whoopi Goldberg — performed very well in theaters, earning nearly $100 million at the box office, not adjusted for inflation, according to Box Office Mojo. Noted. According to FrontPage magazine, one difference between the two films was Walker's decision to show parts of the story, primarily the homosexual relationship.

The Times suggested that the film's weak performance was due to the film's inability to reach beyond "special audiences". The NYT said that although it was well received by black moviegoers, it needed more than just those moviegoers to really succeed in the box office game.

The NYT noted that according to PostTrak, a service that provides the demographics of ticket buyers, the opening weekend audience was 65 percent black, 19 percent white, 8 percent Hispanic and about 5 percent Asian.

Jeff Goldstein, Warner's president of domestic distribution, told the Times that it was too early to determine whether the film would be a box office failure.

"I think the jury is going to be out for several weeks, as people talk to their friends about what films they've seen and enjoyed – what has impacted them and uplifted them – and the film continues to be honored by awards groups," Goldstein said.

"What we know about older audiences is that they don't flock to theatres," he said.