‘Respect,’ Aretha Franklin Biopic Starring Jennifer Hudson, Comes Blu-ray & DVD

Respect, the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson, has been released on Blu-ray and DVD.

The 145-minute long movie follows Franklin’s life from her beginnings, singing in church at 10, to finding her sound with hits like “Respect” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, to the release of her 1972 gospel album Amazing Grace. The Blu-ray and DVD include a short documentary on the making of the movie, interviews with Hudson, director Liesl Tommy and other members of the cast and creative crew, and an interview with the Muscle Shoals studio band who recorded with Franklin.

The movie premiered in August to positive reviews celebrating performances from Hudson, as well as Mary J. Blige, playing Dinah Washington; Forest Whitaker playing the singer’s stern father, Baptist minister C.L. Franklin; and Audra McDonald playing the singer’s loving grandmother. Reviewers raved over the film’s costumes and sets, and the overall fun, though sometimes serious, nature of the story.

The film’s production started in early 2019, following Franklin’s death in August 2018. Before her death, Franklin handpicked Hudson to star in the movie after seeing her star in the 2006 film Dreamgirls and the revival of The Color Purple on Broadway.

“It’s exciting when Queen of Soul says, ‘I want you to play me.’ ‘Oh, OK.’ And then it’s like, ‘Oh my God – wait! What am I supposed to do? How do you approach that?’ ” Hudson said on a panel at Deadline‘s Contenders Film: Los Angeles this weekend. “You know you’re the most important person when even in your death it’s still about you. So it’s exciting, but scary at the same time. But it was her faith in me that allowed me to get through it, the passion for it and knowing what was the assignment and what was given.”