LAS VEGAS — Whitney Houston finished the first night of CinemaCon on a high note.
The annual convention for movie theater owners and Hollywood studios kicked off with a presentation Monday by Sony Pictures, which ended its two-hour panel by showing clips of upcoming releases including Tom Hanks drama "A Man Called Otto" and animated movie "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," featuring the voice of Shawn Mendes as the titular reptile.
But perhaps most exciting was a brief look at "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," Houston's upcoming biopic starring up-and-comer Naomi Ackie ("Master of None") as the late music legend.
In the first clip, Ackie donned Houston's signature curls and a pastel-colored getup as she exuberantly performed the title track. Later, the actress was unrecognizable in a brief glimpse of the pop star's iconic "Star-Spangled Banner" during the 1991 Super Bowl, belting with her arms outstretched in a white tracksuit and headband.
Although the footage has not yet been officially released, Houston fans got their own peek at Ackie in the role earlier Monday with the debut of the movie's poster.
First look at Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston on the official poster for ‘I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY’. pic.twitter.com/MmstMUdWTe
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 25, 2022
The film is directed by Stella Meghie ("The Photograph") and written by Anthony McCarten, whose Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" took home four Oscars in 2019, including best actor for Rami Malek for his transformative turn as Freddie Mercury.
Music mogul Clive Davis, who shepherded Houston's career, is a producer on the film. He teased the movie in an interview with USA TODAY last year, saying that it strives to tell a "very realistic, very honest story" of her life.
Watching Ackie's audition tape, "we were very impressed that Whitney's persona was being captured," Davis said. "The (singing) voice, of course, will be Whitney's. When it came to Whitney, we just didn't think anyone could capture her vocal genius so it will be the Whitney voice in the film."
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" also features Stanley Tucci as Davis and Ashton Sanders ("Moonlight") as Houston's husband Bobby Brown.
CinemaCon runs in Las Vegas until Thursday, with other presentations by major studios including Disney and Warner Bros.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Whitney Houston biopic: Stunning first footage debuts at CinemaCon
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