Claim: Prince starred in a film.

Purple Rain is a 1984 American rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli , produced by Robert Cavallo , Joseph Ruffalo and Steven Fargnoli , and written by Magnoli and William Blinn . The film stars Prince in his acting debut playing `` The Kid , '' a quasi-biographical character . Purple Rain was developed to showcase Prince 's talents and contains several concert sequences . It , along with the award-winning soundtrack and studio album of the same name , turned Prince into an international superstar .   The film grossed more than $ 68 million at the box office in the United States and over $ 80 million worldwide , thus making a large profit on its $ 7.2 million budget . The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score , the last to receive the award .