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Poster for The Color Purple
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Released
1985 · FILM

The Color Purple

An enslaved Southern Black woman's quest for love, independence, and a voice drives her through decades of abuse and racism, forcing her to confront the brutal limits of her world before she can claim her own destiny.

“It's about life. It's about love. It's about us.”

Directed by
Steven Spielberg, Pat Kehoe
Written by
Menno Meyjes, Alice Walker
Rated
MPA · PG-13
Runtime
154 min
Drama

Synopsis

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie is separated from her younger sister Nettie and forced into a loveless marriage, she finds solace in writing letters to God, which later become a means of self-expression and empowerment. Over time, Celie's journey leads her to discover her own strength, independence, and voice, as she navigates relationships, self-discovery, and the challenges of a deeply prejudiced society.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 484+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by Michael KahnShot by Allen DaviauScored by Quincy JonesDesigned by J Michael RivaSound by Richard L AndersonCostumes by Aggie Guerard RodgersStunts by Greg Wayne Elam

Box Office

1985 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 9.8× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$146.3M

Budget$15.0M
Worldwide gross$146.3M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $94.2M — 64% of worldwide · International: $52.1M (36%)

Opening weekend: $1.7M — 2% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $3.9M — 4% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 192 theaters

Re-release box office

1987601 theaters
$2.0M($5.7M today)

Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation

Also known as

  • Die Farbe Lilade
  • El color púrpuraes
  • La Couleur pourprefr
  • Il colore violait
  • (French)La couleur pourpre
Release dates around the world3 countries · show
  • United StatesDec 16, 1985
  • CanadaDec 18, 1985
  • BrazilMar 28, 1986

Production & Distribution

Production companies
Warner Bros.Amblin EntertainmentThe Guber-Peters Company

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