‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ Trailer: See Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston

A new trailer for I Wanna Dance With Somebody offers a second look at the biographical drama about Whitney Houston’s life and career. The first teaser chronicled the fated encounter between the rising star and music mogul Clive Davis that launched her to stardom. Another glimpse at the upcoming film shows what happened to the singer once she reached success. This trailer traces Houston’s career milestones without separating the drama from the highlights. The clip begins with Houston, portrayed by Naomi Ackie, responding to a radio host who suggests her music isn’t “Black enough.”

“That’s just bull,” she says in the scene. “And it makes me angry, actually. It’s hateful and uninformed. My whole life, ‘She ain’t Black enough, she ain’t white enough.’ “Music is not a color to me,” she continues. “It has no boundaries. I sing what I want to sing, be how I want to be, and reach as big an audience I can.” Houston’s complex relationship with her father, John, played by Clarke Peters, is also explored in the clip. Houston’s heartfelt vocals shine in the background during the trailer’s heavy moments. 

Last year, Ackie said about the role (via Deadline): “Preparing to play Whitney Houston has been an incredible experience. “I’ve learned so much more about her and myself than I could have imagined. I’m so excited to get on that film set and honor her legacy! “With Kasi [Lemmons] on board, I know we can create something truly wonderful.” I Wanna Dance With Somebody also stars Stanley Tucci as the aforementioned Clive Davis (who helped shape Houston’s career), Ashton Sanders as Houston’s husband and fellow singer, Bobby Brown, Tamara Tunie as her mother, Cissy Houston, Moses Ingram as friend Robyn Crawford, and Bria Danielle Singleton will portray her late daughter Bobbi Kristina. 

Directed by Lemmons, Bohemian Rhapsody’s writer Anthony McCarten penned the script for the film, with Davis serving as producer. “Early in my writing career I developed two projects for Whitney, and I had the opportunity to meet her,” Lemmons said via Deadline. “She was a tremendous, incomparable artist, and her story is as awe-inspiring as it is tragic. I feel privileged to be part of bringing her life story and music to the audience.” Scheduled to arrive on Dec. 23 in the U.S. and Dec. 26 in the U.K., the biopic, according to its official synopsis, is “a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston” and “a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice.”