Whitney | |
---|---|
Genre | biographical drama |
Based on |
Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown |
Written by | Shem Bitterman |
Directed by | Angela Bassett |
Starring |
Yaya DaCosta Arlen Escarpeta Yolonda Ross Suzzanne Douglas |
Theme music composer |
RedOne Wuff Dan Sundquist Travon Potts |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Larry Sanitsky Kyle A. Clark Lina Wong |
Cinematography | Anastas N. Michos |
Editor(s) | Richard Comeau |
Running time | 88 mins |
Distributor | Lifetime Television |
Release | |
Original release |
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Whitney is a 2015 American made for television biographical film directed by Angela Bassett based on the late American recording artist Whitney Houston and her turbulent marriage to R&B artist Bobby Brown that premiered on Lifetime in North America on January 17, 2015.Whitney received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise going to DaCosta's performance as Houston and Bassett's direction of the film but criticism of Escarpeta's casting and the film's accuracy.
The movie stars Yaya DaCosta as Houston, Arlen Escarpeta as Brown and Yolonda Ross as Houston's longtime friend and road manager Robyn Crawford. Whitney is set in a period of five years (1989–1994) when Houston was catapulted in the worldwide success of her film debut The Bodyguard and its subsequent soundtrack. Filming took 20 days to shoot and was primarily filmed in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California.
Canadian R&B singer Deborah Cox performs all of Houston's vocals in the film, including "I Will Always Love You", "I'm Your Baby Tonight", "I'm Every Woman", "Jesus Loves Me" and "The Greatest Love of All". In addition, songwriting/production team The Jackie Boyz performed Brown's vocals for "Every Little Step" in the Soul Train Awards scene.