The first trailer for the new Whitney Houston biopic has been released.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody sees Naomi Ackie in the lead role of Whitney, while Stanley Tucci takes on the role of her former music industry mentor, Clive Davis.
On Thursday, the first trailer for the biopic was unveiled, beginning with Whitney’s early life performing in church and signing her first record deal.
As the trailer unfolds, Naomi recreates some of Whitney’s most iconic moments, including the How Will I Know, I Will Always Love You and It’s Not Right But It’s OK music videos, filming The Bodyguard and performing the US national anthem at the Super Bowl.
The two-minute teaser also hints the film will explore Whitney’s relationships with her mother, Cissy Houston, Bobby Brown and Robyn Crawford.
A synopsis for the biopic teases that it will be “a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice”.
“From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before,” it continues. “Don’t you wanna dance?”
I Wanna Dance With Somebody is directed by Kasi Lemmons, and written by Anthony McCarten, who previously penned Bohemian Rhapsody as well as the biopics The Theory Of Everything and The Two Popes.
The film’s star, Naomi Ackie, previously won a TV Bafta for her performance in the comedy The End Of The Fucking World, and has previously appeared in Master Of None, Small Axe and the ninth instalment in the Star Wars saga, The Rise Of Skywalker.
Known for her powerhouse vocal abilities, Whitney Houston racked up a string of hits over the course of her career, including an impressive four UK number one singles.
She died in 2012 at the age of 48, after drowning in a hotel bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use also named as contributing factors.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody is slated to hit UK cinemas on 26 December.