“Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, we know her as this legend but there is a story to everyone. Her life had so much depth to it, and it came through the music.”
Jennifer Hudson
“My dream for the film — and for Aretha and her legacy — was to create a piece of cinema that feels like a classic you have to see in a movie theater. You have to see it on a big screen because her life was so big it deserved that.”
Liesl Tommy, director of RESPECT
#RespectMovie
See it only in theaters on August 13, 2021
starring
Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin
Forest Whitaker as C.L. Franklin
Marlon Wayans as Ted White
Audra McDonald as Barbara Franklin
Marc Maron as Jerry Wexler
Tituss Burgess as Reverend Dr. James Cleveland
Kimberly Scott as Mama Franklin
Saycon Sengbloh as Erma Franklin
Hailey Kilgore as Carolyn Franklin
Heather Headley as Clara Ward
Skye Dakota Turner as Young Aretha Franklin
Tate Donovan as John Hammond
and
Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington
Director Liesl Tommy makes her feature film debut with Respect. Tommy is the first Black woman ever nominated for a Tony award for Best Direction of a Play in 2016 for Eclipsed, and is an Associate Artist at the Berkeley Rep and an Artist Trustee with the Sundance Institute’s Board of Trustees.
With a story by Callie Khouri (Oscar® winner for Writing, Thelma & Louise) and Tracey Scott Wilson, and screenplay written by Tracey Scott Wilson. Wilson and Tommy have worked together creatively since the 2009 play The Good Negro written by Wilson, directed by Tommy at The Public Theatre. Wilson was a writer on FX’s The Americans which garnered her a Peabody Award as well as Emmy® and WGA Award nominations.
#RespectMovie
Following the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, RESPECT is the remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice.
DIRECTOR: Liesl Tommy
SCREENPLAY BY: Tracey Scott Wilson
STORY BY: Callie Khouri and Tracey Scott Wilson
PRODUCERS: Harvey Mason Jr., Scott Bernstein, p.g.a., Jonathan Glickman, Stacey Sher
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jennifer Hudson, Liesl Tommy, Sue Baden-Powell, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth
CAST: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Kimberly Scott, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Heather Headley, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan and Mary J. Blige
