Whitney Houston‘s “Waiting to Exhale” costar Angela Bassett will direct a Lifetime movie about the singer, the network said Thursday.
The movie, scheduled for a 2015 premiere, will chronicle the headline-making relationship between Houston and Bobby Brown — from the time they first met at the very height of their celebrity, to their courtship and tumultuous marriage.
Throughout it all, difficulties followed the superstar couple while they dealt with the overwhelming rewards and consequences of the fame and fortune created by Whitney’s meteoric rise that would soon overshadow them both.
Also read: Meagan Good’s One Wish for Christmas: To Play Whitney Houston in Biopic
Though this will mark Bassett’s directorial debut, she has previous experience with Lifetime, having co-starred with Mary J. Blige on the Lifetime movie “Betty & Coretta” last year.
“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, who recently starred in FX’s “American Horror Story: Coven.”
“Their humanity and bond fascinates us all. I’m beyond excited to have this opportunity to go behind the camera and into their world.”
Also read: Whitney Houston Believed She Was Being Extorted, FBI Documents Reveal
The movie, which currently bears the working title “Whitney Houston,” is being produced by The Sanitsky Company, with Larry Sanitsky (“Betty & Coretta”) executive producing. Shem Bitterman (“Betty & Coretta”) wrote the film’s script.