In Warner Bros.' cinematic adaptation of the musical The Color Purple, Fantasia Taylor will portray Celie and Danielle Brooks will play Sofia, with both reprising their roles on Broadway. The news was announced on ABC's Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising special on Thursday.

In the picture, which is directed by Blitz Bazawule, Fantasia and Brooks join a cast that already includes Taraji P. Henson, H.E.R., and Halle Bailey. It will begin filming this spring and will be released in 2023.

Oprah Winfrey, who played Sofia in the original 1985 film based on Alice Walker's novel, which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, told Brooks the news over Zoom as part of the revelation today.

“I am here representing all things purple to tell you that you are our Sophia,” Winfrey said. “I’m so happy to pass whatever baton from 35 — almost 40 — years ago to you. And I know you’re gonna kill it.”

Fantasia, who rose to fame as the winner of American Idol Season 3, will reprise her role as Celie, who was played by Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film adaptation of Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

The new film is a musical adaptation of the Broadway production, which played from 2005 to 2008. During the run, Fantasia played Celie from 2007 to 2008. Brooks won a Tony Award for her performance as Sofia in the revival, which ran from 2015 to 2017.

The original Broadway musical received one Tony Award, but the revival received two.