How to Watch 'The Color Purple' Movie

Trust us: You're going to want to watch The Color Purple, the movie musical starring Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, and so many other amazing performers. But when and where will The Color Purple be streaming (especially in anticipation of this year's Oscars)? Let's dig into it!

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This particular story has had an impressive history. The Color Purple drew major inspo from the 2005 Broadway musical, which was adapted from Alice Walker's National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. You're likely familiar with Steven Spielberg's 1985 film adaptation, which starred Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Oprah Winfrey. And there's also a BBC radio iteration, too! TL;DR: This coming-of-age drama about a young girl named Celie and her life is timeless.

The musical had two major productions on Broadway, both of which featured actors who would go on to reprise their roles in the 2023 movie. Fantasia, for her part, replaced Tony Award-winner LaChanze as Celie in the original production in 2007. Then, in 2015, Danielle Brooks starred in the revival as Sofia and won a Tony Award. (Less fun fact: Danielle Brooks still had to formally audition for the role in the movie. Was a Tony Award not enough??)

Is The Color Purple streaming yet?

Yes! The film was released in theaters on December 25, 2023, and stood there for a while. After all, an epic and generation-spanning film like The Color Purple should, in theory, have a nice long theatrical window, so no complaints there!

However, it's currently available to stream, which brings us to...

Where can I watch The Color Purple outside of theatres?

The film was distributed by Warner Brothers, so the landing spot for it as far as streaming goes is Max. That said, other production companies involved are Harpo Films (Oprah's company), Amblin Entertainment (Steven Spielberg's company), and Quincy Jones Productions (do I need to say it?). Those are three people with a lot of pull in Hollywood—and that's putting it lightly. If they wanted the film to stream on Disney+ and/or OWN, they could probably make it happen at some point.

However, in the meantime, you can stream it on Max and Hulu (with a premium subscription).

Watch 'The Color Purple' on Max

Watch 'The Color Purple' on Hulu

Oh, and you can also rent it from Apple TV, Google, Vudu, and Amazon.

Happy watching!!!