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Cynthia Erivo cast as Aretha Franklin in ‘Genius’ season 3

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FILE - This Sept. 7, 2019 file photo shows actress-singer Cynthia Erivo at The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Hollywood Reporter\'s Toronto International Film Festival party in Toronto. Erivo will play Aretha Franklin in a third installment of the National Geographic anthology series "Genius." Production on “Genius: Aretha” will begin next month and the series is expected to debut next spring. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK – National Geographic has found its next “Genius.”

The network has tapped Cynthia Erivo to play Aretha Franklin in a third installment of the anthology series.

The authorized project will feature Franklin’s music. Erivo will perform songs from the singer’s catalogue. Franklin died in 2018 of pancreatic cancer at age 76.

Erivo won a Tony Award, a Grammy and a Daytime Emmy for her work in “The Color Purple.”

“Genius” dramatizes the story of some of the world’s most legendary innovators. Previous seasons focused on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, starring Geoffrey Rush and Antonio Banderas.

Production on “Genius: Aretha” will begin next month. The series is expected to debut next spring.

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Abbey Westbury

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