Mary J. Blige and Marc Maron Join Cast of New Aretha Franklin Movie Respect
Jennifer Hudson to portray the Queen of Soul in the 2020 biopic
Aretha Franklin photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images
Respect, the forthcoming biopic based on the life of Aretha Franklin, has announced a new slate of cast members. Joining previously announced star Jennifer Hudson (who was selected by the Queen of Soul to portray her before her death) are Forest Whitaker (as Franklin's father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin), Marlon Wayans, Mary J. Blige, Marc Maron, Audra McDonald, Tituss Burgess, Heather Headley, Tate Donovan and more.
Blige is set to portray Dinah Washington, while Maron will play famed music producer Jerry Wexler and Donovan will play producer and civil rights activist John Hammond. The film, directed by Liesl Tommy, is set to begin filming next month and is slated for an August 2020 release.
Another Aretha Franklin biopic project, National Geographic's Genius: Aretha, is set to premiere next spring with Cynthia Erivo (Broadway's The Color Purple) portraying the Queen of Soul. Earlier this year, she was posthumously awarded a "Special Citation" Pulitzer Prize.
Read Pitchfork's Afterword feature "How Aretha Franklin Earned Her Crown As the Queen of Soul."