Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a biographical drama about the singer's rise from a church choir in New Jersey to worldwide fame. As a child she sings with her mother, Cissy, and as an adult she steps in for her at a performance attended by record executive Clive Davis, who signs her. Her debut album turns her into a star, and at an awards ceremony she meets R&B singer Bobby Brown. The two marry, but the life that follows is not the happy ending it appears to be.

Kasi Lemmons directed the film, the sixth feature in her career after Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine, Talk to Me, Black Nativity and Harriet. Naomi Ackie plays Houston, with Ashton Sanders as Bobby Brown, Stanley Tucci as Clive Davis, Nafessa Williams as Robyn Crawford, Lance A. Williams as Gerry Griffith and Tamara Tunie as Cissy Houston. Anthony McCarten wrote the screenplay and produced alongside Clive Davis and Denis O'Sullivan.

Released in December 2022, the film runs 144 minutes. It cost about 45 million dollars and took roughly 57 million dollars worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from around 27,000 votes and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from about 539 votes, while its critics' rating stands at 5.3 out of 10 from 136 reviews, so audiences rated it more favorably than reviewers did.