We have a full-length trailer. “Bohemian Rhapsody” vibes all over this one. One can easily imagine this Whitney Houston biopic becoming a box-office hit.
A write-up from Gold Derby is basically implying that we shouldn’t discount Naomi Ackie’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” performance because it just hasn’t been seen yet. I somewhat agree, but the Actress field is so stacked this year, I have no idea if she would even stand a chance unless it’s just a towering performance.
Yesterday, I recapped the main players in this category and there are just too many players right now:
Cate Blanchett (TÁR), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), Margot Robbie (Babylon) Viola Davis (The Woman King), Olivia Colman (Empire of Light), Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You Leo Grande), Jessica Chastain (The Good Nurse), Ana de Armas (Blonde), Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody).
Directed by Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”) from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, the writer behind biopics such as Darkest Hour and Bohemian Rhapsody, the film has Ackie playing Houston, the late iconic R&B singer whose hit song inspired the title.
Sony Pictures’ Whitney Houston biopic was test-screened in Las Vegas back in April. Here’s a repost of the reaction I published:
“This was a standard biopic, but Naomi Ackie is amazing as Whitney. Moonlight’s Ashton Sanders was so good as Bobby Brown. Stanley Tucci as Clive Barker is also good, charming and funny, they even note Davis’ bisexuality.”
“Brown is portrayed as a little worm. They highlight that Whitney was 6 years older than him and he was trouble from the get-go. It’s all very lighthearted, until it’s not. This was penned by the same guy who wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody” but at least here he got to tell the dirty details.”
“All in all a solid 150 minute movie. Barry Ackroyd shot it. They spend a great deal showing Whitney’s lesbian relationship. Much like in ‘Bohemian’ there’s re-enactments of Whitney’s iconic musical performances and such. Those were highlights, but it’s very digitally shot, not much of an auteur movie for Kasi Lemmons, and kinda bland-looking, but I liked it.”
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” will be released in theaters on December 23, 2022.
The theatrical version runs 108 minutes, so we're talking a nearly 2-hour-10-minute cut of a movie that works because it's lean, and I'm not sure anyone needs that.