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Angela Bassett to Direct Whitney Houston Biopic For Lifetime Channel

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Lifetime cable channel is making a Whitney Houston movie and has tapped an Oscar nominee to direct it.

Actress Angela Bassett will make her directorial debut on the original movie, currently titled, Whitney Houston.

Slated for a 2015 premiere, Whitney Houston will chronicle the relationship between the late singer and her former husband Bobby Brown, from the time they first met and the height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage.

“I have such regard for both Whitney’s and Bobby’s amazing talents and accomplishments, and I feel a responsibility in the telling of their story,” said Bassett. “Their humanity and bond fascinates us all. I’m beyond excited to have this opportunity to go behind the camera and into their world.”

Whitney Houston will be produced by the Sanitsky Company. Larry Sanitsky will serve as executive producer. Shem Bitterman penned the script.

The tele pic continues Bassett’s relationship with Lifetime following last year’s Betty & Coretta, an original movie, which told the real-life stories of Coretta Scott King (Bassett) and Dr. Betty Shabazz (Mary J. Blige), the wives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. For her role, Bassett was nominated for a SAG Award as well as a NAACP Image Award.

Following Houston’s death on Feb. 12, 2012, at 48 years old, Lifetime aired a 14-episode docuseries, The Houstons: On Our Own, chronicling the lives of her family members — including daughter Bobbi Kristina — as they attempted to move on from her death.

Source: thr.com

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