TriStar Pictures has won an auction, beating out at least five other studios and streamers, for the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” with a Thanksgiving 2022 release date planned.
Oscar-nominated scribe Anthony McCarten (“Darkest Hour,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Two Popes”) will pen and produce the project about the famed singer. McCarten self-financed a life rights option, writing the script on spec and lining up the rights and music before taking it out for auction.
The Whitney Houston Estate, Primary Wave and Grammy-winning music producer and Houston’s mentor Clive Davis are all aboard the project while Stella Meghie (“The Photograph,” “The Weekend”) is directing. Unlike with ‘Bohemian’, the film “won’t ignore Houston’s sad ending” even as her large legacy will be the predominant focus. The producers describe it thus:
“[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. While being very frank about the price that super-stardom exacted, it will be both the rich and complex saga of the search for the perfect marriage between song and singer and audience, and at the same time the moving tale of a simple Jersey girl trying to find her way back home.”
McCarten, who is also scripting the Bee Gees film for Paramount, will produce alongside Pat Houston, Larry Mestel, Denis O’Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri.
Houston remains the most awarded female music artist of all time, selling more than 200 million records worldwide along with winning six Grammy Awards, 16 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards and two Emmy Awards. She was inducted earlier this year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Source: Deadline
