“The Color Purple” sings its way to second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time

The film adaptation dominated the box office on Monday with $18 million opening.

The Color Purple bowed on Monday to the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time.

The new adaptation of the beloved book/Broadway musical sang its way to $18 million from 3,152 North American theaters, dominating the box office. It’s the largest Christmas Day opening for a movie since 2009's Sherlock Holmes (which brought in $24.6 million).

The Color Purple outperformed two other new releases: George Clooney’s sports drama The Boys in the Boat and racing movie Ferrari. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom came in second place with $10.5 million from 3,706 venues, while Wonka earned third place with $10.3 million from 4,213 venues.

Starring American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, and Halle Bailey, the new adaptation of The Color Purple retells the story of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel, which first was brought to the big screen by Steven Spielberg in 1985, introducing the world to Whoopi Goldberg and earning Oprah Winfrey an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Since then, the novel has gone on to be reinvented on the stage as a musical, earning 11 Tony nominations in 2006 and spawning a hit 2015 revival.

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Related content:

• Oprah Winfrey says there was pressure to cast Beyoncé or Rihanna in The Color Purple

• How Fantasia injected new life into The Color Purple: 'I got to do it one more time'

• Oprah Winfrey says Tina Turner turned down a role in The Color Purple

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