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Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) requires no formal introduction. Her legacy spans six decades and includes countless chart-topping classics, 18 Grammy Awards (44 Grammy nominations), The Presidential Medal Of Freedom, inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the NAACP Hall of Fame, and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Aretha even has an asteroid named after her. This August, the music icon’s extraordinary life story will play out on the big screen in RESPECT, a biopic starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson as the “Queen Of Soul”.

Directed by Liesl Tommy [Jessica Jones (2015), The Walking Dead (2010) and Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (2019)], and written by Tracey Scott Wilson, RESPECT follows “the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.” It has been widely reported that Aretha Franklin personally selected Jennifer Hudson to play her in this film, which captures the “remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice.”

In addition to Hudson the RESPECT cast includes Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saigon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige.

RESPECT is scheduled to open August 14, 2020.

Lead photo credit: Respect Film