Whitney Houston Lifetime Movie in the Works With Director Angela Bassett

Oscar nominee will direct a TV movie about the late singer and actress

By Chris Harnick May 22, 2014 8:18 PMTags
Whitney Houston, Angela BassettRichard Young/startraksphoto.com, Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Whitney Houston is getting the Lifetime movie treatment from none other than Angela Bassett. The Oscar nominee (she got the nod for playing Tina Turner in What's Love Got to Do With It) will make her directorial debut with Whitney Houston (working title), a Lifetime original movie about the late singer.

Set for 2015 premiere, the movie will tell the story of Houston and her relationship with Bobby Brown from the first time they met to their courtship and rocky 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," Bassett said in a statement. "Their humanity and bond fascinates us all. I'm beyond excited to have this opportunity to go behind the camera and into their world."

The film will be executive produced by Betty and Coretta's Larry Sanitsky and written by Shem Bitterman, also of Betty and Correta fame. Bassett starred in Lifetime's Betty and Coretta movie opposite Mary J. Blige.

No casting has been announced.

Bassett recently recurred in American Horror Story: Coven and will return to the franchise for American Horror Story: Freak Show set to debut in October on FX. Lifetime aired the reality series The Houstons: On Our Own following the late singer's family after Houston's death. Bassett and Houston co-starred in the 1995 flick Waiting to Exhale.