Aretha Franklin ‘ready to sign’ biopic deal

The Queen of Soul has been working on a film of her life for more than five years

Aretha Franklin says she is “ready to sign for the movie” about her life that’s been in development since at least 2011.

Franklin, who is now 74, is known as one of the great soul singers of her era, made the announcement on Thursday night at her birthday party.

The woman known as the Queen of Soul will be working with Scott Bernstein, the man who produced Straight Outta Compton, the well received biopic about the early career of the NWA.

NME
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“We’ve agreed on all the key points,” Franklin told the Associated Press. “There’s very little left now [to negotiate], very little. They have given me creative control and that’s all I wanted.”

Negotiations for a film have been in the works since at least 2011, when the ‘Respect’ singer admitted she wanted Halle Berry to play her. Five years on and Jennifer Hudson is reportedly now in the frame to take the lead role.

Franklin has had 77 songs in the US top 100, and as one of the best-selling artists, male or female, of all time, has sold more than 7m records. She’s also won a mammoth 18 Grammy Awards, and her life, from her humble beginnings in Memphis, Tennessee through megastardom and the health and personal problems that followed it, would certainly make for a fascinating movie.

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