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Fantasia Barrino has reportedly been cast to reprise the role of Celie in The Color Purple movie musical. The singer-songwriter previously portrayed the same character during the 2007 Broadway of the same name.
Based on Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple was previously adapted into the big screen by Steven Spielberg in 1985. Actress Whoopi Goldberg took over the role of Celie in the film and earned a Golden Globe Award for her performance at the time.
Barrino’s version of Celie Harris also received rave reviews from critics and earned her a Theater World Award in 2007.
In addition to Barrino, actress Danielle Brooks has been officially cast as Sofia in the upcoming film. Her casting was announced during ABC’s Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising by Oprah Winfrey, who previously played the same role in Spielberg’s drama version.
Brooks and Barrino will reportedly join Taraji P. Henson, Corey Hawkins and H.E.R. for the feature film. The movie musical will be directed by Black Is King filmmaker Blitz Bazawule, with Marcus Gardley as the screenplay writer.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project will be produced by Winfrey and Spielberg alongside Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones. Meanwhile, Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Carla Gardini, Adam Fell and Mara Jacobs will be executive producers.
The film is currently in pre-production under Warner Bros. and will hit screens on December 20, 2023.
A look into Fantasia Barrino’s fortune in 2022
Fantasia Barrino is an acclaimed singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame after winning the third season of American Idol and went on to earn three Grammy Awards and 12 nominations for her work in the music industry.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Barrino has an approximate net worth of $1 million. The majority of her fortune comes from her musical career and other endeavors in the entertainment industry.
The singer skyrocketed to fame as the winner of American Idol in 2004 and earned $1 million in prize money. Following the finale, she went on tour with her fellow finalists and appeared on the Christmas TV special Kelly, Ruben and Fantasia: Home For the Holidays.
The same year, Fantasia Barrino signed to J Records/19 Entertainment and released her debut album, Free Yourself. Her first single, I Believe, became the top-selling single in the U.S. in 2004.
As per Reality TV World, her album also 240,000 units in its opening week and reached number eight on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. The album also earned a platinum certification from RIAA and received three Grammy nominations.
Barrino went on to release six more studio albums including Fantasia (2006), Back to Me (2010), Side Effects of You (2013), The Definition Of… (2016), Christmas After Midnight (2017) and Sketchbook (2019).
The musician earned significant revenue from her album sales and music streams. According to The Wrap, she has reportedly sold more than three million albums in the United States as of March 2018.
The 37-year-old also gained considerable fortune from her TV, film and Broadway appearances. She portrayed the role of Aretha Franklin on NBC's American Dreams in 2005. She also lent her voice to an episode of The Simpsons that same year.
Fantasia Barrino appeared in the 2006 Lifetime movie The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life is Not a Fairy Tale based on her own autobiographical book of the same name. She made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple in 2007 and returned to the stage with After Midnight in 2013.
The North Carolina Music Hall of Famer even earned her own reality show Fantasia For Real in 2010.
Despite having a successful career, Barrino suffered several ups and downs in her life including a major financial crisis. In her 2005 memoir Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, the musician revealed she was “functionally illiterate.”
The following year Barrino’s father sued her for $10 million for allegedly writing false statements in her book about him. She also faced a significant blow after being diagnosed with a tumor in her vocal cords.
Although she made a complete recovery after undergoing surgery, the performer lost nearly 50 performances of The Color Purple due to her medical condition. In 2010, Oprah reported that Barrino was the sole bread earner for her daughter and six other unemployed members of her family.
Amid several legal and financial woes, Barrino nearly faced a foreclosure of her Charlotte's Glynmoor Lakes home in 2009. However, the auction was later canceled with an undisclosed “11th hour deal.”
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the artist later listed the house for $800,000, which was $500,000 less than her buying price. She allegedly lost the home in 2013 after transferring the process to the bank.
A previous report by Celebrity Net Worth stated Fantasia Barrino had an approximate net worth of $3 million. However, the artist told Tammy Mac in a 2019 interview that appearances can be deceiving:
"I'm just now building myself back up. I lost everything twice. So, I cook my own food. I don't need no chef. I'm from North Carolina; my grandma and my mama taught me how to cook... I'm just like you."
Following consistent personal and professional struggles, Fantasia Barrino began rebuilding her life and made a remarkable comeback in the entertainment industry. She also married businessman Kendall Taylor in 2015 and is currently focused on raising her three children aside from managing her career.
