The first trailer for the long-awaited Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, is finally here.
The teaser arrived Thursday and shows how British actress Naomi Ackie channels the late powerhouse singer. The trailer begins with how Whitney got her start, when Arista Records’ Clive Davis discovered her singing at a nightclub at the tender age of 19.
“My dream? Sing what I wanna sing. Be how I wanna be,” Ackie narrates as scenes of Whitney’s rising star status flash across the screen.
The trailer includes one of the most defining moments of Whitney’s career — the 1991 Super Bowl where the Grammy winner belted out the “Star Spangled Banner.”
The sneak peek also shows the dark undercurrents Whitney faced throughout her career, such as facing criticism that her music wasn’t “Black enough.”
“Look, I don’t know how to sing Black and I don’t know how to sing white, either,” Ackie’s voice continues to narrate as the camera pans to a sold-out stadium of fans excited to see Whitney perform. “I know how to sing.”
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is directed by Stella Meghie and written by Anthony McCarten, who penned the Oscar-winning Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie arrives in theaters on December 21.
“The greatest voice of our time has an even greater story,” the movie’s official synopsis reads. “Discover the Whitney Houston you never knew.”
Whitney accidentally drowned in her hotel bathtub in 2012; drugs were found in her system. She was 48.
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