'Purple Rain': 4 Fascinating Facts From Director Albert Magnoli

Prince in 1984′s ‘Purple Rain’ (Photo: Everett)

More than a week has passed since Prince died at the age of 57. But fascinating stories about his life and work continue to circulate via social and traditional media.

Case in point: This terrific Rolling Stone interview with Albert Magnoli, the director who made his feature film debut with Purple Rain, which continues to screen at various theaters around the country in tribute to his Royal Badness. The whole interview is worth reading, but here are four tidbits to whet your appetite.

Related: Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ Expanding in Theaters Thanks to Fan Demand

Magnoli’s first meeting with Prince: After telling the Artist about his vision for the movie — which would deviate from the original script by, among other things, delving into Prince’s fraught relationships with his parents — Magnoli and Prince went for a car ride. “He was quiet and I was quiet,” the filmmaker recalls. “He asked me, ‘Do you know me?’ I said no. ‘Do you know my music?’ I said, ‘Just ‘1999.’ And he said, ‘Then how is it that you essentially tell me my story without knowing me?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but if you’re willing to commit to this story we have an opportunity to make a great picture.’ He said, ‘Is that important for you, my father hitting me?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said he was willing to commit.”

The amount of music Prince could have used in Purple Rain: Magnoli says he told Prince he’d probably need at least 12 songs for the movie. The singer-songwriter said he had 100 that were ready to go.

Related: ‘Sign o’ the Times’: Prince’s Lost Concert Movie Masterpiece

The Travolta suggestion: Even though Prince and his management team had invested $1 million in the production, Magnoli and the producers ultimately took the film to Warner Bros. despite the director’s concerns about potential studio interference. “The first meeting at Warner Brothers was with the head of the studio and production and some executives, and the first thing they said was, ‘Is it possible to ask if John Travolta can play Prince?’” he remembers. “I looked at [Prince’s managers] and thought, ‘This is what I’m talking about. Welcome to this world.’”

How the movie got its name: Magnoli remembers telling Prince that, while they had plenty of music for the film, they still didn’t have “the anthem.” Then one night, while watching Prince and the Revolution on stage at Minneapolis’s First Avenue, Magnoli saw them perform a song that sounded like the perfect choice. “I went downstairs and asked Prince after, ‘What is that song?’ He said, ‘I just wrote that with the band.’ I said, ‘That’s the song, the anthem song!’ He said, ‘Oh. It’s called 'Purple Rain.’ Can we name the movie after that?’ The script was untitled at that point. I said, ‘Yep, that’s the name.’ That’s how easy and crazy it was.”

Related: Remembering That Time Prince Was Almost in ‘The Fifth Element’

There are even more great details in the story, so give it a read, preferably while blasting “Baby I’m a Star.”

What to Stream: Remember Prince by Watching ‘Purple Rain’: