Purple Rain is a 1984 musical film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince stars in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents. The film earned US$68.4 million (2009 dollars US$140,017,340) at the box office.
A sequel titled Graffiti Bridge was released in 1990.
"The Kid" (Prince) is an aspiring and talented, but troubled Minneapolis musician with a difficult home life. He meets a singer named Apollonia (Apollonia Kotero), and they become involved in an untidy romance. The plot centers on Prince trying not to repeat the pattern of his abusive alcoholic father, played by Clarence Williams III (famous at the time for his role as Lincoln Hayes on The Mod Squad), and keep his band, The Revolution, and his relationship with Apollonia, together. His main antagonist is fellow musician Morris Day and his group The Time.
The movie idea was apparently developed by Prince during his "Triple Threat" tour. Initially the script was to be darker and more coherent. Prince intended to cast Vanity, leader of the girl group Vanity 6, but she left the group before filming began. Her role was initially offered to Jennifer Beals (who turned it down because she wanted to concentrate on college) before going to Apollonia Kotero, a virtual unknown at the time. Excluding Prince and his on-screen parents, almost every actor in the movie uses his/her actual name for his/her character.
Although the film was considered "outrageous" at that time by WB it was finally accepted for distribution thanks to Howard Bloom.
Filmed almost entirely in Minneapolis, the film features many local landmarks, including the Crystal Court of the IDS Center (also shown in segments of the opening credits to The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and the legendary First Avenue nightclub. A notable error, either geographic or taxi fare related, shows Apollonia running up (and bailing on) a $37.75 cab fare going from the Greyhound Station to the nightclub. In reality, they were just across the street from each other.
The Huntington Hotel which Apollonia stayed in is located at 752 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90014. This was a late pickup shot and is shown in the movie to be across the street from First Avenue though it clearly is not.
The film is tied into the album of the same name, which spawned three chart-topping singles: the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", and "When Doves Cry." The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The soundtrack sold over 14 million copies in America alone.
