Bossip
Video
You
told
Harpo
to
cast
Bey
or
Rih????
Source:
Kevin
Mazur
/
Getty
Oprah
Winfrey
is
opening
up
about
some
of
the
struggles
she
encountered
while
making
the
second
film
adaptation
of
The
Color
Purple.
During
a
recent
interview
for
The
Hollywood
Reporter,
Winfrey–who
returns
as
a
producer
for
the
film
alongside
Steven
Spielberg–said
that
there
was
pressure
to
land
a
big-name
star
for
the
movie
in
order
to
ensure
a
hit.
“To
be
completely
honest
about
it,
if
you
were
doing
this
film
for
$30
or
$40 million,
the
interest
in
the
cast
would
be
very
different,”
Winfrey
said.
“Once
the
film
moved
to
$90
to
$100 million,
then
everybody
wants
us
to
bring
Beyoncé.
‘Can
you
get
Beyoncé
or
can
you
get
Rihanna?’”
“So
we’re
sitting
in
a
room
saying,
‘Listen,
we
love
Beyoncé.
We
love
Rihanna,
but
there
are
other
actors
who
can
do
this
job,’”
the
former
talk
show
host
recalled.
She
even
referenced
Beyoncé’s
tour
this
year,
adding,
“I
do
remember
conversations
about,
‘Y’all,
Beyoncé
is
going
to
be
busy
this
year.’
It
wasn’t
even
a
negotiation,
because
you’re
not
getting
Beyoncé.”
Related
Stories
Despite
having
such
iconic
source
material,
Winfrey
and
those
she
collaborated
with
on
the
film
still
had
to
fight
for
more
resources
and
for
the
cast
that
director
Blitz
Bazawule
envisioned.
Bazawule
recently
collaborated
with
Bey
as
co-director
of
her
2020
Lion
King
visual
companion,
Black
Is
King.
Fantasia
Barrino,
who
plays
Celie
(a
role
she
also
played
in
the
Broadway
adaptation),
said
that
the
cast
wanted
to
“overdeliver”
in
support
of
their
director.
“It’s
an
all-Black
cast
and
it’s
a
movie
that
is
really
deep,”
she
said.
“So
for
Blitz,
we
all
would
go
hard
even
when
we
were
tired,
when
we
were
upset.”
The
Color
Purple
is
set
to
hit
theaters
on
Christmas
day.
