The Color Purple is a box office flop, and it hasn’t received any major recognition by any of the upcoming movie award shows.
Around Christmas, Oprah explained that the movie appeared to be doing well. Oprah told fans that the movie made “$18M” in a single day.
But IMDB tells a different tale. According to the popular website, The Color Purple made less than $12M in the opening weekend, and has to date grossed $58M. And that “gross” $58M number does not go to the studios, Media Take Out learned. One studio executive explained, “The studio will only get about $24M, the other half will go to the theater that showed the film.”
With a budget of $100M plus marketing, the film has – as of now – lost at least $75M.
And we’re told that studio executives at Warner Bros are placing blame at Oprah, and Taraji over the flopping.
One insider told Media Take Out, “Executives blame Taraji Henson for derailing the promotional efforts of the film and using it as a selfish opportunity to change her personal narrative as an ‘aging and underpaid’ actress.”
Taraji Henson, during the movie promotion, told multiple reporters that she has been routinely underpaid and under appreciated in her career. Taraji further explained that – at least initially – she was not treated properly on the set of The Color Purple.
But while Taraji is taking some heat …. so is Oprah fro not “controlling: the legendary actress.
The insider told Media Take Out, “Oprah should have taken Taraji to the side when she noticed she was taking the promotional efforts in a ‘negative space.’”
The Color Purple was supposed to be the breakout hit for Oprah’s Harpo Films studio. Instead, it’s turning out to be a pretty huge embarrassment for the studio, and Oprah.
Tiffany Brockworth:
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