The Color Purple Had the Second-Best Christmas Day Domestic Box Office Opening Ever With $18 Million

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The Color Purple has achieved the second-best Christmas day domestic box office opening of all time with ticket sales reaching $18.15 million.

As reported by Comscore, The Color Purple only failed to surpass 2009’s Sherlock Holmes, which earned $24.60 million on that Christmas. The film’s performance means it earned more than Les Miseralbes’ $18.11 million, Daddy’s Home’s $15.70 million, and Unbroken’s $15.43 million.

When compared to the holiday weekend box office in North America, The Color Purple is now sitting at third place behind Wonka’s $28.35 million and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s $38.30 million. It’s $18.15 million was enough to move Migration’s $17.81 million and Anyone But You’s $8.05 million down a spot each.

“The release date for The Color Purple was perfection,” Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian said. “And scoring the second-best Christmas debut of all time, despite it being a rather low grossing frame overall for the period, shows that this film offered exactly what audiences were looking for when venturing to the multiplex with family and friends on this historically solid moviegoing day.

“Boasting an incredible filmmaking team and a venerable title, The Color Purple showed that, amongst the superheroes, animated family fare, and R-rated indie films, the well-reviewed and perfectly marketed film came out a winner by offering an irresistible moviegoing experience with an amazing cast that delivered on all levels. It was the perfect Christmas moviegoing experience.”

The Color Purple is a musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel of the same name from 1982. The novel told the story of an African American woman living in the south during the early 1900s. It was first made into a movie in 1985 with director Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Adolph Caesar, and more.

This new newest film adaptation is directed by Blitz Bazawule and stars Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, Ciara, H.E.R., Jon Batiste, and more.

In our The Color Purple review, we said, “Despite the immense talent on display, The Color Purple musical fails to get off the ground, let alone soar without apology. It’s yet another version of the story that sands down the book’s central lesbian romance; in its rush to a conclusion, every other emotional arc is truncated as well. Fantasia Barrino shines in the lead role, but what’s the point of casting her if you aren’t going to let her sing her heart out?”

For more, check out all of our IGN Award winners in 2023, including best movie, best horror movie, and best sci-fi/fantasy movie.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.