Sony’s TriStar Pictures is retelling the story of Whitney Houston in the first theatrical feature film on the late music icon. Actress Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) stars in the official trailer for I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
Originating from Houston’s early days as the demure gospel singer, the trailer shows record executive, Clive Davis (Stanley Tucci), witnessing “The Voice” for the first time as she does an impromptu performance in place of her mother Cissy Houston (Tamara Tunie). Kasi Lemmons, known for Eve’s Bayou and Harriet, directs the screenplay written by Anthony McCarten that serves to celebrate the joyous and heartbreaking life of Houston as the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time.
The cast consists of Clarke Peters as John Houston, Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown, Nafessa Williams as Robyn Crawford, Bria Danielle Singleton as Bobbi Kristina, and Kris Sidberry as Pat Houston.
Watch The Trailer Below:
Both Clive Davis and Pat Houston are producers on the film, which brings us to the music of the picture that so closely resembles Houston’s voice it is unclear if it is the legend singing or snippets of her voice synced with Ackie’s. Anytime the original music of the subject can be used in a biopic, it adds to the authenticity of the storytelling.
The intensity of Ackie’s performances were further infused by a unique set of circumstances that contributed to the atmosphere of the set. In an interview with The Whitney Houston Platinum Club, Ackie expressed how she was able to pull off Whitney Houston for some of the biggest musical moments of her career.
“There was this weird thing that would happen every time we had a performance date, something would go wrong or somebody would do something wrong to piss me off and it was that, that made the performance look good,” Ackie said. “You can convert your nerves into a good fuel.”
Since Houston’s untimely demise at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2012, there have been several documentaries on the singer, along with the Lifetime Television movie, Whitney, directed by Angela Bassett, who co-starred with Houston in the ’90s film, Waiting to Exhale.
The same year that the Grammy-winner died, The Houstons: On Our Own, a reality television show following Houston’s daughter with Bobby Brown, Bobbi Kristina, her brother, Gary, and his wife and former assistant to Houston, Patricia Houston, was released giving a glimpse inside Bobbi Kristina’s controversial relationship with her God-brother, Nick Gordon, who both ended up dying in suspicious ways.
As the excitement for a silver-screen Whitney Houston biopic continues to rise, so does the skepticism of fans who have been repeatedly disappointed by the misrepresentation of the star fans grew to love. There’s a redeeming aspect to this particular attempt at telling Houston’s story — mainly, it wasn’t so much about being the first film to make it to audiences or drawing viewers through tabloid sensationalism. Hopefully, this time around, “The Voice” will get her just do.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody releases nationwide in theaters on Dec. 21, 2022.
