The Color Purple Returns To Movie Theaters

In celebration of the film's 35th anniversary

Celebrating its 35th Anniversary, Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple, Which Introduced Moviegoers to Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, Returns to Cinemas for One Day Only This February.

In honor of the film’s 35th anniversary, The Color Purple returns to movie theaters nationwide during Black History Month, its first nationwide release in more than three decades. Prior to and after the film, TCM Primetime host Ben Mankiewicz will provide new commentary and insight into the making and legacy of this unforgettable movie.

The unforgettable characters of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel brighten the screen in this rhapsodically cinematic adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg. At the center of the tale is Celie (Whoopi Goldberg, in her Oscar®-nominated movie debut), whose search for fulfillment in a world closed to her becomes a triumph of cruelty overcome by love, of pain eclipsed by joy. Acting and filmmaking honors all came to The Color Purple upon its initial release in 1985, with an outstanding supporting cast including Danny GloverMargaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey. It is a timeless film that remains a powerful and unforgettable cinematic masterpiece.

Goldberg, Winfrey and Avery each were nominated for an Oscar, among the film’s 11 nominations, which also included Best Picture, Writing (Menno Meyjes, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) and Original Score. The Color Purple received NAACP Image Awards for Best Picture and Best Actress, and was named Best Film of 1985 by the National Board of Review.

  • WHO: Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Warner Bros.
  • WHEN:  Sunday, February 23, 2020 – 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (local time)
  •  WHERE: Tickets for The Color Purple can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.com or participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 600 select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.

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Todd Erwin

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Closest movie theater for me that participates in Fathom Events is nearly 120 miles away...
 

Jake Lipson

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I hate when Fathom does these only on one date. I'm not sure I can make it. I get why a full wide release as a normal screening film is not practical for most re-releases anymore, but I wish they would add a second date for it to give us more than one option.
 

Tino

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I hate when Fathom does these only on one date. I'm not sure I can make it. I get why a full wide release as a normal screening film is not practical for most re-releases anymore, but I wish they would add a second date for it to give us more than one option.
It’s usually 2 and sometimes 3 days. I’m surprised it’s only 1 this time.
 

Jake Lipson

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It’s usually 2 and sometimes 3 days. I’m surprised it’s only 1 this time.

Yeah, I know. I don't know why they think The Color Purple can't support more than one day.

Looking at my schedule, the screening here (at my multiplex as is always the case with Fathom shows) overlaps with my arthouse doing a separate one-time screening one of my all-time favorite movies. I can do one or the other but not both. I'd be happy to pick Color Purple under almost any other circumstance or day, but not this one. Oh well.
 

Tino

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Yeah, I know. I don't know why they think The Color Purple can't support more than one day.

Looking at my schedule, the screening here (at my multiplex as is always the case with Fathom shows) overlaps with my arthouse doing a separate one-time screening one of my all-time favorite movies. I can do one or the other but not both. I'd be happy to pick Color Purple under almost any other circumstance or day, but not this one. Oh well.
What’s the other film?
 

Jake Lipson

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What’s the other film?

Howl's Moving Castle.

(Not that most people would pick that over The Color Purple, but it's a seminal film for me personally, so I have to, because I want very badly to see that on the big screen again.)

Of course, I own both -- so I can spin The Color Purple on Blu -- but it would be nice if the scheduling gave two days for Color Purple so I didn't have to choose.
 
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Adam Lenhardt

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It's a decent enough film, but Whoopi Goldberg's performance as Celie is one for the ages. The lifetime of abuse that Celie has endured is etched in every movement, every glance, every expression. And that grounds and supports the extraordinary courage that comes late in the story.
 

Noel Aguirre

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Not one of my favorite Spielberg films. Not gritty enough and a little too smaltzy for the subject matter as far as the direction, set and clothes design , music, and cinematography. Wish either Spike Lee or Martin Rittt did this one. Whoopi is super though.
 

bujaki

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Not one of my favorite Spielberg films. Not gritty enough and a little too smaltzy for the subject matter as far as the direction, set and clothes design , music, and cinematography. Wish either Spike Lee or Martin Rittt did this one. Whoopi is super though.
I saw this at a Director's Guild screening and I'm with Noel in the dissenting side. I was viscerally angry at the film's conclusion. However, I did like Avery's performance because it felt so natural, so unforced.
Spielberg wasn't the right director for this one. As Noel wrote, maybe a Spike Lee... and I'm out.
Continue with the praise.
 

Museum Pieces

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I thought Spielberg lost his nerve with this movie, that he didn't have the confidence in himself as a filmmaker to make the grown up parts truly grown up. He totally whiffed it when it came to giving this movie any of the teeth the novel had, IMO. That said, the performances, music, and cinematography are fabulous. It would be interesting to see what Spielberg would do with this material today. I think it would be a much different--and a better--movie.
 

Todd Erwin

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I thought Spielberg lost his nerve with this movie, that he didn't have the confidence in himself as a filmmaker to make the grown up parts truly grown up. He totally whiffed it when it came to giving this movie any of the teeth the novel had, IMO. That said, the performances, music, and cinematography are fabulous. It would be interesting to see what Spielberg would do with this material today. I think it would be a much different--and a better--movie.
And Spielberg has admitted as such, saying he perhaps wasn't mature enough as a filmmaker at the time. After all, this was his foray into drama. Schindler's List is where he truly matured as a filmmaker.
 
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