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Movies & TV

27th May 2023

This musical retelling of a Spielberg classic gets its first powerful trailer

Simon Kelly

We smell an Oscar or two.

We’ve been blessed with some really exciting trailers lately for upcoming summer blockbusters. Looking slightly ahead to next year though, we’re also in for a treat.

The trailer for The Color Purple, which releases on January 18, 2024, has dropped this week and it’s getting a lot of people excited. The flick is a musical retelling of the incredible 1985 Steven Spielberg coming-of-age drama which was nominated for 11 – yes, ELEVEN – Oscars.

The film, based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, centres on the life-long struggles of an African American woman called Celie living in the south during the early 1900s, which included the abuse she received from her father, coercion into marriage and being separated from her sister.

All of those struggle, however, lead Celie to become a powerful and defiant young woman against all odds.

The Color Purple stars Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi.

Spielberg and Quincy Jones are returning to produce the upcoming film, as well as Oprah Winfrey, who starred in her first acting role in the original.

With a stellar cast and a massively talented production team behind it, we’re sure The Color Purple is going to be a huge hit, and no doubt a potential Oscar-winner.

Here’s some other trailers that dropped during the week, starting with…

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

We’re getting serious Turning Red vibes off this new DreamWorks animated flick. The film centres around sixteen-year-old Ruby, who is desperate to fit in at high school, but she soon discovers that she’s a direct descendant of the warrior Kraken queens and is destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother.

Starring an ensemble voice cast including Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo and Jane Fonda, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken splashes into cinemas on June 30.

No Hard Feelings

Raunchy comedies are back, baby! In what looks to be a return to the genre that dominated the early 00’s, Jennifer Lawrence stars in this R-rated comedy about a down-on-her-luck Uber driver who, desperate for money, decides to take on a job to bring a shy 19-year-old out of his shell before he starts college. Releasing in cinemas on June 23.

The Blackening

Horror comedy based on the 2018 short film of the same name by the comedy troupe 3Peat. The film follows an all-African American group of friends who encounter a killer while staying at a cabin in the woods.

The ensemble cast includes Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji. Coming to cinemas on June 16.

Barbie

We’ve already got a peek at the summer blockbuster to end all blockbusters, but the main trailer for Greta Gerwig’s toy-based comedy released this week, giving us more insight into the story of the Margot Robbie-starring flick.

We get a better look at the likes of Will Ferrell and Kate McKinnon in the new trailer and it only makes us more excited for the release.

Burdon of Proof

HBO are releasing this hard-hitting documentary film on their streamer Max on June 6, which centres on the 1987 disappearance of 15-year-old Jennifer Pandos. Jennifer’s brother Stephen believes his parents are somehow involved in the case and has dedicated his life to finding out what happened.

The documentary shows new evidence coming to light which makes Stephen start to question everything he’s come to believe.

And now on to TV trailers..

Hijack

Idris Elba is taking to the skies in the trailer for this extremely tense looking Apple TV+ series. The seven-episode miniseries sees a skilled negotiator aboard a hijacked plane on its way to London over a 7-hour flight, while authorities on the ground scramble for answers.

To make it even more nerve-wracking, the series is laid out in real time, as the plane makes its way towards the English capital. Hijack arrives on June 28.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson – Season 3

One of the funniest sketch comedy shows to grace our screens in a long, long time is returning for its third season and we genuinely could not be more excited to see more ridiculous, over-the-top wackiness Tim Robinson and co have in store for us. Coming to Netflix on May 30.

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