WHITNEY HOUSTON: I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY Screens Across Philippine Cinemas Starting Jan. 8

Manila, Philippines--Acclaimed biopic "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody" starts its screening across Philippine cinemas on Sunday, January 8. The filmmakers, headed by film director-executive producer Kasi Lemmons, have obtained the original recordings of Houston's 22 greatest hits and remixed them for today's state-of-the-art sound of movie theaters.

John Warhurst, sound supervisor and music editor, and Maureen Crowe, music supervisor, worked with the original recordings' license holders and various archives to gather not just the master mix but the original multitrack raw recordings Houston did.

"Those recordings [approximately made from 1977 to 2012] were mixed to sound great in your cars or a home stereo," says Warhurst. "But a movie theater--especially a Dolby Atmos movie theater--has speakers throughout."

Not only could Warhurst remix the original recordings to achieve the ideal sound in a movie theater--matched to British actress-singer Naomi Ackie's onscreen portrayal of Houston--having the multi-track recordings also helped enhance the actress' performance.

"On the raw vocals, Naomi could hear, in great detail, the vocals that Whitney originally performed. The breaths, the little laughs, the giggles, the inflections she put into the notes--Naomi could hear all of that and rehearse to it," Warhurst says.

On the other hand, Lemmons recalls: "Naomi was meticulously rehearsed. She knew Whitney's every breath, which is a difference between how Whitney sings versus how Naomi sings. She had to sing like Whitney, breathe like Whitney, and pull it off, point perfect, take after take."

Houston's songs included in the film are "Greatest Love of All," "Home," "You Give Good Love," "If You Say My Eyes Are Beautiful," "Where do Broken Hearts Go," "Saving All My Love," "How Will I Know," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "Far Enough" (unreleased), "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Run to You," "I Will Always Love You," "Why Does it Hurt so Bad," It's Not Fight, But It's OK," "I'm Every Woman," "I'm Your Baby Tonight," "So Emotional," "One Moment in Time," "Million Dollar Bill," "My Name is not Susan," "I Didn't Know My Own Strength," and "The Impossible Medley: I Loves You Porgy, An I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, and I Have Nothing."

Houston (1963-2012), whose 1985 debut album is one of the bestselling debut albums by a woman in history, is the only recording artist to chart seven consecutive No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most-awarded female recording artist. She sold an estimated 170-200 million records worldwide.

"Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody" is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Photo: Columbia Pictures