# Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a 2022 American biographical musical drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons, from a screenplay by Anthony McCarten, based on the life and career of American pop icon and actress Whitney Houston. The film stars Naomi Ackie as Houston with Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters in supporting roles.
An authorized biopic on Houston's life was announced in early 2020, with Ackie cast in the lead role that December, and the rest of the cast signing on later the next year. Produced on a $45 million budget, filming took place in Massachusetts and New Jersey from August to December 2021.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody was released in the United States on December 23, 2022, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise going to Ackie's performance and criticisms for the film's hewing to music biopic conventions. It grossed $59.8 million.

## Plot

In 1983, 19-year-old Whitney Houston's demanding professional singer mother Cissy is coaching her for a church choir. Whitney's close friendship with Robyn Crawford turns romantic, and they move in together, to Cissy's disapproval.
Whitney's big break comes at the Sweetwaters nightclub, when Cissy spots producer Clive Davis. She feigns sickness, so Whitney opens with "The Greatest Love of All". Davis immediately signs her to Arista Records.
After Whitney's first major live performance on The Merv Griffin Show with "Home", her debut album is hugely successful. Nippy Inc., her own production company is set up and run by John, her overbearing father and self-appointed manager. Whitney proposes Robyn be her personal assistant, but she refuses due to their relationship and suggests they date men.
After recording a love song with Jermaine Jackson, they start a sexual relationship, angering Robyn. They fight and Whitney ends their romantic relationship, but they remain close. In 1987, Whitney releases her second album and the single, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)", making her a crossover success. This attracts criticism for selling out and not sounding "black enough".
At the 1988 Soul Train Music Awards, Whitney faces hostility both at the red carpet and when announced as a nominees for Best Music Video. She meets singer Bobby Brown, and soon gets engaged. Shortly afterwards, Whitney discovers he impregnated his ex-girlfriend; they argue but then reconcile.
Whitney peaks in the early 1990s, performing "The Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV and acting in the film The Bodyguard. She goes on tour, performing "I Will Always Love You" at a stadium in South Africa for newly inaugurated Nelson Mandela.
Following a miscarriage, Whitney later marries Bobby and has daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. One night, she returns home to find him and her credit card missing. Upon Bobby's return, Whitney finally kicks him out and loses herself in cocaine.
In 1998, Clive pressures Whitney to release a new studio album, as she hasn't for over eight years, despite releasing seven major singles and starring in three films. Whitney records the ballad "Why Does It Hurt So Bad", inspired by her and her ex, after previously resisting. Later, she confronts her father after discovering he mismanaged most of her fortune and is secretly negotiating a new $100 million contract with Arista.
Later, dealing with insomnia and stress, Whitney gets Clive to show her potential songs. Upon finding one she likes, a new studio album is released, igniting a potential comeback.
Clive warns Whitney about burning out and argues against her immediate return on tour, but she ignores him. The following tour proves exhausting, and Whitney's drug addiction catches up to her as she suffers physical and mental decline that damages her reputation. Clive urges her to enter rehab, but she refuses.
Near the tour's end, Robyn and Bobby argue, after the former attempts to get Whitney to end it early. When she insists on continuing, Robyn leaves Whitney's life after telling her John is dying in a hospital. There, Whitney is confronted with a $100 million lawsuit from Nippy, Inc. She cuts ties with him, even refusing to attend his funeral. Cissy finds Whitney in a drug-induced haze so forces her into rehab. Eventually, Whitney sobers up, reconnects with her daughter, and divorces Brown.
In 2009, Houston attempts a second comeback with a new album and performs I Didn't Know My Own Strength (Whitney Houston song) on Oprah Winfrey. Afterwards, Clive again urges her not to push too hard promoting the album. Nevertheless, she goes on with a planned tour, which proves disastrous.
In February 2012, at the Beverly Hilton in LA to perform "Home" at a pre-Grammy party, Whitney's bassist Rickey suggests calling it off to rest, but she refuses. At the hotel bar, she and the bartender reminisce. In her room, a tearful Houston runs a bath as she prepares drugs she had secretly bought earlier, and sings "Home" to herself while reminiscing about her life and career before dying suddenly.
In a flashback to the 1994 American Music Awards, Houston receives a standing ovation for singing a medley of "I Loves You, Porgy", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", and "I Have Nothing".

## Cast

* Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston
* Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis
* Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown
* Tamara Tunie as Cissy Houston
* Nafessa Williams as Robyn Crawford
* Clarke Peters as John Houston
* Dave Heard as Rickey Minor
* Bria Danielle Singleton as Bobbi Kristina Brown
* Jaison Hunter as Jermaine Jackson

## Production

On April 22, 2020, Stella Meghie was set to direct a Whitney Houston biopic, titled I Wanna Dance with Somebody, with Anthony McCarten attached to pen the screenplay and produce the film along with Clive Davis, Pat Houston, Larry Mestel, Denis O'Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri. McCarten, who self-financed an option for Houston's life rights, wrote the script on spec, and lined up rights and music. On August 4, 2020, TriStar Pictures acquired the film. On September 1, 2021, Kasi Lemmons took over directing duties from Meghie who eventually served as an executive producer.
On December 15, 2020, Naomi Ackie was set to portray Houston. In September 2021, Ashton Sanders was cast as Bobby Brown, Houston's husband of fifteen years. The same month, Stanley Tucci was cast as Clive Davis. In October 2021, Clarke Peters and Tamara Tunie were cast in the film, and Nafessa Williams was cast as Robyn Crawford, replacing Moses Ingram. Williams previously played another character in a 2015 television film entitled Whitney.
The film was expected to begin principal photography on August 9, 2021, in Newark, New Jersey and Boston, Massachusetts, according to one source. In August 2021, Compelling Pictures was in pre-production on the film at Marina Studios in Boston. In October and November, scenes were shot in Arlington, Massachusetts, as well as at Worcester Regional Airport, Wang Theater, Cutler Majestic Theatre and Gillette Stadium.

### Music

The soundtrack was released by RCA Records on December 16, 2022. It includes two hours of remixed and original versions of Houston's songs, with guest features by BeBe Winans, Clean Bandit, Kygo, Lucky Daye, SG Lewis, Samaria, Jax Jones, Leikeli47, P2J, Oxlade, and Pheelz. Ackie lip-synched to Houston's songs, though she does her own singing in a few early scenes.

## Release

The film had its world premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square in New York City in December 13, 2022, and was released theatrically on December 23, 2022 by Sony Pictures Releasing.
The film was released for VOD on February 7, 2023, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on February 28, 2023.

## Reception
### Box office

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody grossed $23.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $36.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $59.8 million.
In the United States and Canada, I Wanna Dance With Somebody was released alongside Babylon, and was initially projected to gross $20–25 million from 3,625 theaters over its four-day opening weekend. The film made $1.9 million on its first day. It went on to debut to $4.7 million in its opening weekend (and a total of $6.4 million over the four days), finishing third behind Avatar: The Way of Water and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Deadline cited the threat of a tripledemic surge in COVID-19 and flu cases and the nationwide impact of Winter Storm Elliott as reasons for lower-than-expected theater attendance. The film held well in its second weekend, dropping just 16 percent to $3.9 million, finishing in fourth.
In the United Kingdom, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody debuted in second place, behind Avatar: The Way of Water. The film grossed £3.3 million ($3.9 million) in its opening weekend. It held its place of second the following week, grossing £1.3 million for a total of £6.2 million ($7.5 million).

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 43% of 136 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Another wiki-biopic for posterity's sake, the relatively watchable I Wanna Dance with Somebody leaves you feeling like you were on stage with Whitney Houston, but didn't really get to dance with her." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 88% of audience members gave the film a positive score, with 68% saying they would definitely recommend it.
Ackie received praise for her performance. Critics commended Lemmons for not putting the focus on Houston's downfall, and instead foregrounding who Houston was before fame, particularly her relationship with Robyn Crawford. Stephanie Zacharek of Time commented, "Lemmons is more interested in the root of Houston's tragedy than its expression, anyway. At one point, Whitney laments that it's her job to 'be everything to everyone.'"
Zacharek said the film succeeds in its display of "Houston's exuberant contradictions, and the joy she both took and gave in performing. The movie isn't a melodramatic tell-all, or a total downer. But it manages, even while being unapologetically entertaining, to feel like an honest reckoning with all the things we didn't want to know about Houston at her fame's height. It's a film that takes our failings into consideration, rather than simply fixating on hers, a summation of all the things she tried to tell us and couldn't." Others, like Michael Talbot-Haynes of Film Threat, believed the film should have shown the full scope of Houston's struggles with substance abuse.
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune reviewed the film positively and said: "A sexually fluid superstar with deep roots in Christianity and the bad luck of falling prey to manipulators and users within her family circle never had a fighting chance at inner peace. 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' manages to suggest some nuance and ambiguity in Houston's key relationships, and within her own ambitions. The actors and director Lemmons accomplish what the screenplay does only partially: make us believe the circumstances and the behavior. Ashton Sanders' Bobby Brown gives us the weasel but also the man. In a role slightly larger than required, I think, Arista legend Davis has the bonus of being played by ever-wry, ever-winning Stanley Tucci."
Criticisms included those of the screenplay, with some contending it felt like it was ticking off boxes on a music biopic checklist. Brian Truitt of USA Today opined the film felt like a "Wikipedia entry come to life." Another criticism was that some characters did not feel fully fleshed out.

### Accolades

The film was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature at the 21st Visual Effects Society Awards.
Naomi Ackie was nominated for the EE Rising Star award for I Wanna Dance with Somebody at the 76th British Academy Film Awards.
The film was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Feature Motion Picture at the 70th Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards.
Kasi Lemmons was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture for I Wanna Dance with Somebody at the 54th NAACP Image Awards.
In 2023, the film was nominated for Best Movie at the 23rd BET Awards 2023.