“Purple Rain,” the iconic Prince film, is set to become a stage musical

A new stage version of the renowned movie “Purple Rain,” which launched Prince as the pop icon and won an Oscar for its legendary soundtrack forty years after it debuted at the top of the box office, is currently under development.

The stage version, which is based on the original screenplay by Albert Magnoli and William Blinn, will include a book by Pulitzer Prize nominee twice over, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who is presently making waves on Broadway with the highly acclaimed “Appropriate.” The show will be directed by Tony Award nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz, who most recently oversaw the critically acclaimed production of “The Skin of Our Teeth” at Lincoln Centre.

The show’s creators stated that additional details regarding the production and schedule will be released in the upcoming months.

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

If you haven’t seen “Purple Rain,” you really should. It’s about The Kid, an aspiring rock musician in the Minneapolis club scene, who has to deal with a difficult family life, rival musicians, and a new love. Prince made his screen debut in the Magnoli-directed picture, which Warner Bros. released in 1984. He would go on to star in films such as “Under the Cherry Moon” and “Graffiti Bridge,” but they would never quite reach the global box office victory of “Purple Rain,” which brought in close to $100 million.

In his career as a performer, Prince would sell more than 150 million records globally and win six American Music Awards, four MTV Video Awards, seven Grammy Awards, and seven Brit Awards. In June 1984, “Purple Rain,” the soundtrack for Prince and The Revolution, was made available. Two Grammys, three American Music Awards, two Brit Awards, and an Academy Award for best original song score were all given to the album. For twenty-four weeks, the album held the top spot on the Billboard 200.

Among Jacobs-Jenkins’s theatre credits are “An Octoroon,” “Gloria,” and “The Comeuppance.” Michael R. Jackson’s “White Girl in Danger” and “Dreaming Zenzile” are among Blain-Cruz’s movies.