Jon Batiste To Make Acting Debut in The Color Purple Movie Musical

Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross accept the Oscar® for Original Score during the live ABC Telecast of The 93rd Oscars® at Union Station in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, April 25, 2021. (Matt Petit / A.M.P.A.S.)

(CelebrityAccess) – Grammy award winner Jon Batiste is set to make his acting debut in Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie musical adaptation of The Color Purple.

A big-screen movie musical version of The Color Purple has been in talks for years. In 2018, two big names from the 1985 movie joined forces with two big names from the 2005 Broadway musical – Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones. They announced they would be working together to bring a new musical film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Alice Walker to the masses.

Batiste, the bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, will make his debut playing Grady, a sweet piano man and husband of Shug Avery, played by actress Taraji P. Henson. Bennett Guillory played the role in the 1985 feature film. Batiste is fresh off a Grammy Award-winning haul and is an Oscar winner for composing the score alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the Disney / Pixar film, Soul.

On top of the announcement that Batiste will be joining the fold, the cast includes several notable names. Reprising their roles from the Broadway musical is American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino as Celie, and Danielle Brooks steps into the shoes of Sofia again. Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton) will play Harpo, and Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) will play Celie and Nettie’s mother. Halle Bailey, David Alan Grier, and Louis Gossett, Jr. are also part of the ensemble cast.

The musical movie is set to premiere in December 2023 in theaters before hitting the streaming service, HBO Max.

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