Jennifer Hudson has put some Quaaaan into being the Queen of Soul.
MGM released the first teaser trailer for Respect, the biopic about R&B legend Aretha Franklin. Starring Hudson (Academy-Award winner for Dreamgirls), it looks to follow all of the expected beats of the genre, from Aretha being a groundbreaking artist to the challenges she faced as a pioneer, and then more specifically the sexism she had to confront as a female pioneer and the activist stances required of an African-American during the Civil Rights Movement.
Fellow Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker co-stars alongside Mary J. Blige, Marlon Wayans, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, and multi-Tony winner Audra McDonald. F
rom director Liesl Tommy (HBO’s Insecure, Netflix’s Jessica Jones) and screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson (FX series The Americans and Fosse/Verdon), Respect is currently slated to open in theaters on Christmas Day 2020.
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I do like Jennifer Hudson – but I don’t know if ANYone will ever sing like Aretha. Hope the story is done right.
She’s as close as anyone can get so, if there’s ever to be a biopic about Aretha, Hudson seems like the best fit to me.