A Whitney Houston movie has been in the works since 2012, the same year the legendary R&B singer died. It’s been in development hell for so long that there’s already been a Lifetime TV movie, directed by no less than actress Angela Bassett. But the big screen version looks like it’s finally coming together. It even, as per The Hollywood Reporter, has its Whitney: English actress Naomi Ackie, who was seen last year in a pivotal role in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker.
Ackie is the result of a worldwide search to find someone with the charisma and the vocal chops to play the singer, who skyrocketed to fame in the 1980s, had numerous top of the chart hits, including the song that inspired the biopic’s title, I Want to Dance with Somebody. Personal problems, including drug use, led to a slow decline, ending with her dying at only 48. The cause was accidental drowning in her bathtub, an incident caused by heart disease and cocaine intoxication.
The English actress first came to notice with the art film drama Lady Macbeth, which also made a name of its star, Florence Pugh. In Rise of Skywalker, Ackie played Jannah, a former stormtrooper who winds up, like John Boyega’s Finn before her, joining the resistance. She also had roles in the popular Netflix show The End of the F***ing World and in Desiree Akhavan’s The Bisexual. Perhaps the Whitney movie will recreate her infamous run-in with a soused Serge Gainsbourg on French television, which ended with her knowing exactly how to handle him getting fresh.
(Via THR)