*Aretha Franklin gave an update on her long-in-the-works biopic Thursday while celebrating her 74th birthday in Manhattan.
According to Page Six, The Queen of Soul says she has been in talks with “Straight Outta Compton” producer Scott Bernstein.
“Good news, we’re ready to sign for the movie,” she said of the negotiations. “We’ve agreed on all the key points. There’s very little left now (to negotiate), very little. They have given me creative control and that’s all I wanted.”
Franklin first began talking of a biopic in 2011, when she expressed hope that Halle Berry would play her. Jennifer Hudson is now reportedly being considered for the lead.
Below, Page Six details Franklin’s birthday bash:
Franklin spoke to The Associated Press in the first floor lounge of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where she has held parties before, as some 100 of her friends gathered Thursday to wish her a happy birthday. Franklin, who turned 74 on March 25, arrived in white fur and settled into a corner table alongside record executive Clive Davis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, among others.
There was music, of course, but little of Franklin’s. The singer of “Respect,” ”Chain of Fools” and other classics took the night off, content to smile and nod her head along to performances by the Dizzy Gillespie All Stars and Dennis Edwards of Temptations fame. Near the end, a multi-tiered vanilla cake was wheeled out, with a tape recording of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” playing on the sound system.
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