A director from the theatre world will help bring Aretha Franklin’s story to the big screen. Liesl Tommy, a Tony Award nominee for Eclipsed, will helm the biopic about the Queen of Soul, titled Respect, according to Variety.
As previously reported, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, who made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple, will star as the late music legend in the project from MGM Pictures, which will feature a screenplay by Callie Khouri.
Tommy’s additional directing credits include Off-Broadway’s Relevance, Kid Victory, and Appropriate. She is also attached to the upcoming film adaptation of Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime, starring Lupita Nyong’o (who led the cast of Eclipsed).
Straight Outta Compton’s Scott Bernstein and songwriter Harvey Mason Jr. will produce.
