Ciara joins The Color Purple movie musical as adult version of Halle Bailey's Nettie

The Color Purple movie musical has enlisted Ciara's platinum-certified vocal chops.

EW can exclusively reveal that the "Goodies" and "Level Up" performer has joined the cast of producers Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey's upcoming film adaptation of The Color Purple musical stage production. The 36-year-old will star as the adult version of Nettie, with fellow recording artist and The Little Mermaid actress Halle Bailey previously announced as portraying the younger version of the character.

Ciara joins the production following a successful career in pop and R&B music, with seven full-length albums, including her 2004 debut. She has appeared in three major movie roles: MTV's All You've Got, the musical Mama, I Want to Sing!, and the 2012 Adam Sandler comedy That's My Boy. She also had a recurring role on season 6 of the BET sitcom The Game.

With production set to begin this month in Georgia, this version of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel follows American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino as Celie, who navigates Southern life in the early 1900s. Other notable cast members include Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Colman Domingo as Mister, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, musical artist H.E.R. as Squeak, Louis Gossett Jr. as Ol' Mister, and David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery.

Warner Bros. has set the Blitz Bazawule-directed, Marcus Gardley-written film for a December 2023 theatrical release, just under 40 years after Spielberg directed Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg alongside Akosua Busia as Nettie in his Best Picture-nominated 1985 big-screen interpretation of Walker's book. Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray also helped adapt the story for a 2005 Broadway musical that saw Brooks, Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Hudson, LaToya London, and Renée Elise Goldsberry taking on various roles throughout the show's life cycle.

In addition to Spielberg and Winfrey, Quincy Jones, and Scott Sanders are also producing alongside executive producers Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Mara Jacobs, Carla Gardini, Kristie Macosko Krieger, and Adam Fell.

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