Jennifer Hudson to play Aretha Franklin in new biopic

The actress and singer was hand-picked by the Queen of Soul herself

Author: Chris GilvearPublished 29th Jan 2018

Production giant MGM have confirmed they are intending to make a movie about the ‘Queen of Soul’, and Jennifer Hudson is set to play the title role. The news was announced at a pre-GRAMMY party on Saturday night in New York, hosted by legendary record executive Clive Davis. He introduced Hudson on stage, who performed ‘Think’ ‘Rock Steady’ and ‘Respect’ as part of the announcement.

Jennifer Hudson was apparently hand-picked by Aretha herself. According to Deadline,  she’ll be joined on the film by producer Scott Bernstein (former record executive and producer of the movie ‘Straight Outta Compton’) and award winning musical director Harvey Mason Jr.  who has worked with dozens of pop and soul artists including Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Mary J Blige and movies including The Help, Pitch Perfect and Dreamgirls (for which Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar).