There are two biopics coming out about the life of the late Aretha Franklin. One is RESPECT with Jennifer Hudson playing the incomparable Queen of Soul. The other is the Genius: Aretha series by National Geographic with Aretha Franklin being portrayed by Academy Award nominee, Cynthia Erivo.
The latter is the biopic in question. According to Franklin’s family, they were never consulted. Therefore, the family is asking that you not support the upcoming series on National Geographic. Franklin’s granddaughter, Grace took to Instagram to share a video of the family attempting to gain support of the public. The family can be heard chanting, “this movie has to go.”
Grace Franklin says, “As the immediate family we feel that it’s important to be involved with any biopic of my grandma’s life as it’s hard to get any accurate depiction of anyone’s life without speaking to the ones closest to them.” She says they reached out several times to the makers of Genius: Aretha but were “disrespected” and told they would not work with them.
NatGeo’s Genius series is described as an, “Anthology series focusing on the untold stories of the world’s most brilliant innovators.” Aretha Franklin is the third subject of the series. Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso were the first two subjects. Genius: Aretha premieres Sunday, March 21. It’s a four-night event.
RESPECT will be released in theatres later this year.
