Respect Movie

Respect movie poster

The life of Aretha Franklin from singing as a child in her father’s church’s choir to becoming an iconic superstar and civil rights activist.

Who's Involved:

Forest Whitaker, Saycon Sengbloh, Tate Donovan, Mary J. Blige, Sue Baden-Powell, Jason Cloth, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Hudson, Aaron L. Gilbert, Scott Bernstein, Audra McDonald, Liesl Tommy, Harvey Mason, Skye Dakota Turner, Tracey Scott Wilson, Heather Headley, Hailey Kilgore, Stacy Sher, Kimberly Scott

Release Date:

Friday, August 13, 2021 Nationwide

PG-13   PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED MPA
mature thematic content, strong language including racial epithets, violence, suggestive material, and smoking
Runtime: N/A
Language: English

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Plot: What's the story about?

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.


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Who stars in Respect: Cast List

... Aretha Franklin

Breathe, The Three Stooges  

... C.L. Franklin

Hurricane Season, Big George Foreman  

... Ted White

Air, A Haunted House  

... Barbara Franklin

Origin, Rustin  

... Dinah Washington

Trolls World Tour, Rock of Ages  

... Jerry Wexler

What Is Life Worth, Genie  

... Reverend Dr. James Cleveland

Spellbound, Dolemite Is My Name  

... Erma Franklin

 

... Carolyn Franklin

 

... John Hammond

What Is Life Worth, The Holdovers  

... Young Aretha Franklin

 

... Clara Ward

 

Who's making Respect: Crew List

A look at the Respect behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Liesl Tommy last directed Born a Crime.

Director

Liesl Tommy

Screenwriters

Tracey Scott Wilson

Producers

Scott Bernstein
Harvey Mason
Stacy Sher

Production: What we know about Respect?

Key Facts

  1. 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 (6/6/2021).
  2. "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 (6/6/2021).
  3. Callie Khouri, who wrote “Thelma & Louise” and is the creator of TV's Nashville, is writing the script (3/9/19).
  4. Dreamgirls star Jennifer Hudson was handpicked by Aretha Franklin to play her before the singer's death (1/11/19).

Filming Timeline

  1. 2021 - June: The film was set to Completed  status.
  2. 2019 - December: The film was set to Post-Production  status.
  3. 2019 - January: The film was set to Pre-Production  status.

    Stage director Liesl Tommy is on-board to direct the biopic.

  4. 2018 - March: The film was set to Development  status.

Respect Release Date: When was the film released?

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Respect was a Nationwide release in 2021 on Friday, August 13, 2021. There were 14 other movies released on the same date, including Don't Breathe 2, Free Guy and Battle For Afghanistan.

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