Quick! Name your favorite song from The Bodyguard. While most might say “I Will Always Love You,” for me, it’s “I Have Nothing” because it’s Whitney Houston at the top of her game. Let’s also not sleep on “Queen of the Night.” It’s such a completely un-Whitney-like song and she nails it. And now, with this film set to return to theaters to celebrate its 30th anniversary, get ready for debates like these to ramp up again.
Per TheBodygurard30.com, the movie will be back in theaters on Nov. 6 and 9. The special showings will be followed by a “musical compilation celebrating the legacy of Whitney Houston.”
If like me, you just discovered you have a friend who has somehow never seen The Bodyguard, the film stars Whitney as superstar singer/actress Rachel Marron. When she starts receiving crazed death threats, she’s forced to hire former Secret Service agent Frank Martin (Kevin Costner) to protect her. Naturally, they fall in love, complicating his job. The music tells the story of their romance, with every song pivotal to the plot. For example, if you don’t get teary when Rachel runs off the plane into Frank’s arms as “I Will Always Love You” swells, you’re a robot.
To date, The Bodyguard has made $411 million worldwide and is still the best-selling movie soundtrack of all time. Yes, I know we’re all feeling very old right now because it doesn’t seem like it’s been 30 years. It’s hard to believe, but this was Whitney’s film debut. It takes a truly special talent to knock it out of the park like this in their first starring role.
The film’s theatrical return comes just as a biopic about the Grammy-winning star is set for release in December. I Wanna Dance With Somebody chronicles Whitney’s rise to stardom and features British actress Naomi Ackie as the “Saving All My Love For You” singer.
While we’re celebrating the superstar, let’s do a Whitney Houston film festival and also bring Waiting to Exhale and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella to theaters, so we can spend the day watching all four movies.