The official poster and trailer for the upcoming Aretha Franklin biopic Respect has been released. Jennifer Hudson stars as Franklin, the queen of soul. The film follows her beginnings singing in her fathers choir all the way to her boom as an international superstar and to her current status and a musical legend.
Respect is directed by Liesl Tommy, who is making her directorial debut following her nomination at the 2016 Tony awards for Best Direction of a Play for her work on Eclipsed. She is the first black woman to be nominated for that award.
Callie Khourki and Tracey Scott Wilson wrote the story for the film, with Wilson helming the screenplay. Aside from Hudson, the film is starring Forest Whitaker as C.L. Franklin, Audra Mcdonald as Barbara Franklin, Saycon Sengbloh as Erma Franklin, Marlon Wayans as Ted White, Marc Maron as Jerry Wexler, and several more filling out the many roles of Franklin’s life.
The film is from MGM Studios, while being collaborated with Bron Creative and One Community. Respect will be released in theaters on August 13.