“When the movie jumped to $90 million to $100 million, everyone wants us to bring in Beyoncé,” she said.
Oprah Winfrey talks about some of the obstacles she faced while making the new musical adaptation Purple.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter released on Tuesday, the icon, 69, opened up about how as the budgets for her upcoming film increased, so did the expectations.
“To be perfectly honest, if you were making this movie for $30 million or $40 million, the interest in the cast would be very different,” said Winfrey, who starred in the 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel and produced the new film. Exit.
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“When the movie jumped to $90 million to $100 million, everyone wants us to bring in Beyoncé,” she said.
The former television talk show host explained that while some big names are undoubtedly talented, so are others.
“Can you get Beyoncé or Rihanna?” So we sit in a room and say, ‘Listen, we love Beyoncé. We love Rihanna, but there are other actors who can do this job,’ Winfrey said.
Beyoncé and Rihanna.
Kevin Mazur/Getty; David Becker/Getty
She added yes, although many advised yes Renaissance: The Beyoncé Movie artist, 42, would “be busy this year,” it was a topic that wasn’t on her mind: “It wasn’t even a negotiation, because you’re not going to get Beyoncé.”
The Selma the actress admitted that there were times when she and fellow producers Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones — who both worked on the original Oscar-nominated film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — had to seek financial help from Warner Bros. to ensure delivery of a worthy product.
“I would have to say that [Warner Bros. co-chairs] Pam [Abdy] and Mike De Luca really understood when they first saw the film, and they understood that they heard me and heard Steven and heard the team when we said, ‘This is why this has to be done,'” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “You need to give us more money to do this because this is kind of a cultural manifesto for our community and it deserves the support it needs to become what it needs to be.”
Purple: Oprah, Fantasia and all the stars who attended the premiere of the movie musical in Los Angeles
Winfrey was joined by cast members Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson for The Hollywood Reporter interview.
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Blitz Bazawule, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Oprah Winfrey.
Arturo Holmes/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty
Henson, 53, recognized the original film’s flaws, despite its greatness. “The first film failed culturally,” she told the newspaper. “We don’t wallow in the mud. We don’t stay stuck in our traumas. We laugh, we sing, we go to church, we dance, we celebrate, we fight for joy, we find joy, we keep it. That’s all we have.”
The Empire The alum noted that from the “first frame” of the new film, audiences will see how “different” the new film is. “The color is different. It’s light, bright, lively. That’s who we are,” she told za The Hollywood Reporter.
Halle Bailey, Louis Gossett Jr., Corey Hawkins, David Alan Grier, Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, HER, Ciara, Jon Batiste and Deon Cole also star in the film. It is an adaptation of the 2005 Tony-winning Broadway musical.
Purple arrives in theaters on December 25.
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Source: HIS Education