Call me skeptical. But having watched Lifetime’s Aaliyah: Princess of R&B biopic, I am quite skeptical about the network’s Whitney Houston biopic. When it comes to biopics, they can be either really bad or really good. But after viewing the trailer for Whitney, Angela Bassett’s directorial debut, I’m going to go with something between really bad and really good and say it wasn’t bad at all.
Whitney will chronicle Houston’s life through the lens of her tumultuous relationship with Bobby Brown. The trailer includes the couple arguing and also delves into her cocaine use, which was widely known but not confirmed until autopsy results showed that it was in her system at the time of her death.
The movie stars Yaya DaCosta as Houston and Arlen Escarpeta as Brown. Deborah Cox lends her voice for covers of Houston’s songs, which will include “The Greatest Love of All,” “I’m Every Woman” and “I Will Always Love You.” Whitney will air on Lifetime Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. EST/PST.