Sony Boards Whitney Houston Biopic I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY

Sony and its TriStar division have picked up the Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody. According to Billboard, Sony is setting a Thanksgiving 2022 release for the film.

The estate of late singer Whitney Houston authorized the biopic back in April.

A statement from the film's producers describes the film as "a joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of the greatest female R&B Pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom."

Stella Meghie will direct the film from a screenplay from writer and producer Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, Bohemian Rhapsody)

"Whitney just makes you want to get out of your seat and sing and dance!" said TriStar head Nicole Brown in Tueday's announcement. "She is anthemic in every way. Anthony McCarten has bottled that up in his masterful screenplay bringing this beloved legend to life in a way we've never seen her - funny, exhilarating, aspirational, complex and incredibly human. Add to that Stella Meghie, a diehard fan, who is so gifted at telling beautiful, modern, feminine tales. With the guidance of Pat Houston, the legendary Clive Davis, Larry Mestel, Denis O'Sullivan, and Jeff Kalligheri, we have the absolute dream team to create the ultimate celebration of Whitney's incredible life and musical achievements."

"Musically-driven films have always held a special place in theaters and this remarkable story will help further our fierce commitment to the theatrical experience," said Josh Greenstein, president of Sony Motion Picture Group.

With over 170 million combined album, singles and videos sold worldwide during her career with Arista Records, Whitney Houston had established a benchmark for superstardom.

Houston's career has consisted of record-setting achievements in music: the only artist to chart seven consecutive #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits ("Saving All My Love For You," "How Will I Know," "Greatest Love Of All," "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional," and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"); the first female artist to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 (her second album, Whitney, 1987); and the only artist with seven consecutive multi-platinum albums (Whitney Houston, Whitney, I'm Your Baby Tonight, The Bodyguard, Waiting To Exhale, and The Preacher's Wife soundtracks, and My Love Is Your Love).

In 1997, she starred in the made-for-television remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to co-producing, Houston starred in the movie as the Fairy Godmother along with Brandy, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters. An estimated 60 million viewers tuned into the special giving ABC its highest TV ratings in 16 years. The movie received seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy, while winning Outstanding Art Direction in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Special.

In fact, The Bodyguard soundtrack is one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums of all-time (at 17x-platinum in the U.S. alone), and Whitney's career-defining version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" is the biggest-selling U.S. single of all-time (at 4x-platinum).

Read the original article on Billboard.

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