First look: Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin asking for a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T

MGM released the first official look of Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin, singing Franklin’s signature song (and the film’s title) Respect.

Respect follows the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom and 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. Aretha Franklin passed away in 2018 but hand-picked Hudson to play her in the film.

For Hudson, who won a Supporting Actress Oscar playing Effie White, one of Broadway’s most iconic characters, in 2006’s Dreamgirls, she’s probably licking her wounds after the critical drubbing she got for Cats (which opens today) and is probably hoping this does a bit to reform her performance image.

Respect is directed by Liesl Tommy and written by Tracey Scott Wilson, lensed by 6-time Emmy nominee Kramer Morgenthau (Game of Thrones), costumed by Tony winner Clint Ramos (Eclipsed) and is expected to be released by MGM on August 14, 2020. Here is the first look and teaser poster.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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