Prince's 'Purple Rain' to be stage musical, four decades after movie topped the box office

Sylvia Looi

9 January 2024 at 12:06 am·2-min read

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Purple Rain will be adapted into a Broadway musical, four decades after it topped the box office, winning an Oscar for the soundtrack and setting Prince‘s status as the prince of pop.

Based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, the stage version will feature a book by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Tony Award nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz with additional details and timing to be announced later, Variety reported.

“We can’t think of a more fitting tribute than to honour Prince and the ‘Purple Rain’ legacy with this stage adaptation of the beloved story,” said The NorthStar Group chairman L. Londell McMillan and Primary Wave Music founder and CEO Larry Mestel.

“We are thrilled with our Broadway partners and creative team, who are bringing a theatricality to the film’s original fictional story. We can’t wait for a new generation to discover Purple Rain and for lovers of the original film and album to experience its power once again, this time live,” they added.

The film revolves around The Kid, an aspiring rocker in the Minneapolis club scene, as he faces a complicated home life, musical rivals and a new romance.

Released by Warner Bros in 1984, the film was directed by Magnoli and marked Prince’s foray into acting.

He went on to appear in other movies like Graffiti Bridge and Under the Cherry Moon, but it did not match the success of Purple Rain, which grossed nearly US$100 million (RM464.4 million) worldwide.

As a musician, Prince sold over 150 million records worldwide and received seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music Awards and four MTV Video Awards.

Prince and The Revolution’s soundtrack, Purple Rain, was released in June 1984 and it received two Grammys, three American Music Awards, two Brit Awards and an Academy Award for best original song score.

The album also stayed at the top spot on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks.

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