The latest trailer for the upcoming biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody offers another glimpse at Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker star Naomi Ackie as the seminal music legend Whitney Houston. Released courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment, I Wanna Dance with Somebody is set for release at the end of this year and promises to detail the life and career of the cultural icon, who sadly passed away in 2012 at 48 years old. Check out the newly released trailer for I Wanna Dance with Somebody below.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is described as a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. Led by BAFTA Award winner and The End of the F***ing World and Small Axe star Naomi Ackie, I Wanna Dance with Somebody 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. Don’t you wanna dance?
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Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Academy Award nominee Anthony McCarten, and produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis, I Wanna Dance with Somebody stars Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis, Whitney’s record producer; Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown, Whitney’s husband; Tamara Tunie as Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother; and Clarke Peters as John Houston, Whitney’s father, as well as Ali Asghar Shah, Nafessa Williams, Daniel Washington, and Bria Danielle Singleton.
The Rise of Skywalker Naomi Ackie is Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Sony Pictures
Naomi Ackie takes on the central role in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, with the actress having previously explained how she plans to portray a figure of such influence as Whitney Houston. “I’m going to try my best because that woman — it sends shivers down my spine how much she means to me, the world, Black women, African American women,” she said. “I’m going to throw my everything into making sure she is represented properly.”
One of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide, as well as starring in such major motion pictures as The Bodyguard, Whitney Houston’s life was complex and often far from the glitz and glamour that she displayed on stage and screen. Her drug use and tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown was often the subject of headlines, with the singer sadly passing away in February 2012 following an accidental drowning at the Beverly Hilton.
“I just want to tell her story. And I think when I’m able to simplify it down to that, I’ll be able to handle the pressure,” Ackie said of bringing Houston’s life to the silver screen.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 23, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing.
