New York, NY (Top40 Charts) National Geographic and Fox 21 Television Studios released a first look photo of triple threat Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy Award-winning Cynthia Erivo ("Harriet," "The
Color Purple") as
Aretha Franklin during the GENIUS: ARETHA start of production.
"Over the last few months, I've been preparing myself to embody the
Queen of Soul, from relistening to her music to discovering her rare interviews and reading some amazing books on her — all to really capture Aretha's attitude and spirit," said Erivo. "I'm truly humbled to be working alongside a very talented and musical team. Together, we'll serve the
Queen and create something special."
The ensemble cast includes Courtney B. Vance ("The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story") as C.L. Franklin,
David Cross ("Goliath," "Arrested Development") as Jerry Wexler, Malcolm Barrett ("Timeless," "Preacher") as Ted White,
Patrice Covington (Broadway's "The
Color Purple") as Erma Franklin, Kimberly Hébert Gregory ("Vice Principals") as Ruth Bowen, Rebecca Naomi Jones ("The Big Sick") as Carolyn
Franklin and Sanai
Victoria ("Black-ish") as
Little Re. The eight-part limited series will premiere on
National Geographic in May 2020 in 172 countries and in 43 languages.
RELEVANT HANDLES AND HASHTAG:
National Geographic - @natgeochannel
Fox 21 Television Studios - @20thcenfoxtv
Imagine Entertainment - @imagineentertainment
Brian Grazer - @briangrazer
Ron
Howard - @realronhoward
Cynthia Erivo - @cynthiaerivo
Genius - Facebook: @NatGeoGenius; Twitter: @NatGeoGenius; Instagram: @natgeogenius
Hashtag - #genius
ABOUT GENIUS: ARETHA
GENIUS dramatizes the fascinating stories of the world's most brilliant innovators, exploring their extraordinary achievements along with their volatile, passionate and complex personal relationships. The third season of the anthology series will explore Franklin's musical genius and incomparable career as well as the immeasurable impact and lasting influence she has had on music and culture around the world, in the first-ever, definitive and only authorized scripted limited series on the life of the universally acclaimed
Queen of Soul. Grammy Award winner
Franklin was a gospel prodigy and outspoken civil rights champion; she is widely considered to be the greatest singer of the past 50 years, receiving countless honors throughout her career.
Imagine is partnering with Warner
Music Entertainment for this third season, which will again be executive produced by Imagine's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Suzan-Lori Parks is showrunner and executive producer and Anthony Hemingway is executive producer and producing director for the season. Legendary hit record producer Clive Davis and Atlantic Records Chairman and CEO
Craig Kallman have also joined as executive producers. Returning executive producers include Francie Calfo (GENIUS, "
Empire"), Ken Biller (GENIUS: EINSTEIN, GENIUS: PICASSO), Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane (MWM Studios), and Sam Sokolow (EUE/Sokolow). Diana Son joins as executive producer. In addition, Imagine's Anna Culp serves as producer alongside
Peter Afterman.
