Jennifer Hudson may have started out as a contestant for American Idol, but she managed to parlay the publicity in a fruitful acting career, using her singing talents to portrayal iconic singers such as Effie White in Dreamgirls (for which she won an Oscar for her performance) and now as Aretha Franklin in the Queen of Souls' upcoming biopic Respect. A film for which the trailer was released today.
Franklin herself was actually involved in the production as far back as 2018 before she passed from pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. The film itself was supposed to land on Christmas last year, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was shuffled around many times, and now has set it's sights on an August 13th release this year. And it seems MGM is confident the film will be released as it's debuted an official trailer today. Check it out below:
Respect co-stars Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige. It is directed by Liesl Tommy.