Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson, Brandy considered for Whitney Houston biopic: report

Rihanna, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Brandy and Vivica Fox are all being considered to play Whitney Houston in a biopic helmed by record label executive Clive Davis, reports say.

According to the Daily Mail, while the timing of such a project might seem ill-conceived, the biopic has actually been in the works for a long time. The newspaper reports that Davis -- a close friend of Houston's who eulogized the singer at her funeral -- is looking to finalize a script soon.

SONY PICTURES IN ALL-OUT RUSH TO GET 'SPARKLE' IN THEATERS

"Whitney knew about the project and was excited to see where it would lead," a source told People UK. "It’s hoped the biopic will be as successful as Tina Turner movie 'What’s Love Got To Do With It,' which landed two Oscar nominations for Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne who played Tina and Ike Turner."

Read more: If the biopic moves forward, Hudson seems like the most obvious choice to play Houston, having proven her acting skills with an Oscar-winning debut performance in "Dreamgirls." Furthermore, Hudson was the person Houston's family asked to pay tribute to Houston at the Grammy Awards, just a night after her death, with a moving rendition of "I Will Always Love You."

However, Brandy -- who starred in a 1997 version of "Cinderella" -- is the singer who might push the hardest for the role. Just weeks before Houston's death, the singer, whose full name is Brandy Norwood, said that she would love to play Houston onscreen.

"My dream role would be to play Whitney Houston," Brandy told the website TrueExclusives. "Of course she would have to sing all the songs. But I would love to play Ms. Whitney. I have her personality down pat, her ‘isms’ down pat. Like no offense ladies — it’s a lot of talented ladies there — but nobody can play Whitney like me."

Brandy's brother, Ray J, was reported to be Houston's on-again-off-again boyfriend at the time of her death.

Sparks of "American Idol" also has a claim to the role. Sparks stars opposite Houston in "Sparkle," Houston's final film, which will be in theaters on Aug. 17. In the movie, a remake of a 1976 film, Sparks plays one of Houston's three daughters who form a vocal group.

Rihanna, though reported to be a favorite for the role, may not even be open to taking it. The "We Found Love" singer shot down rumors last year that she was signing on for a remake of Houston's classic with Kevin Costner, "The Bodyguard."

"Absolutely not," Rihanna told OK! magazine. "I hate it when singers do singing movies all the time, because you can never look at them as anybody else. I want to play a character. My whole life is playing Rihanna, [so] being a singer [in a film] won't be a stretch for me. I like challenges, and being an actor is playing a role, being able to step into somebody else's shoes, that's the excitement."

While several names are reportedly being floated for the role of adult Houston, the Daily Mail names only one who is being considered to play a young Houston in the film -- Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who had a hit with "Whip My Hair" in 2010

"Sparkle", Whitney Houston's Final Film Premieres

NEW YORK — Viewers got a first glimpse of Whitney Houston's upcoming film Monday when NBC's "Today" show premiered a trailer for the much-awaited release, and a fuller clip debuted on Yahoo! Movies.

A remake of the 1976 original, "Sparkle" stars Houston as the mother of three girls who form a singing group and struggle with fame and drug addiction. The trailer displayed the daughters, including "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks, in performance. Houston is prominent throughout, at one point singing the classic gospel song "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."

She also tells one of her daughters: "I always knew you had the gift. It makes me feel like I did something right. Don't lose it."

Debra Martin Chase, who is a producer of the film, said she had mixed emotions with the trailer's release; the movie is scheduled for release Aug. 17.

"On the one hand, I'm so excited about the movie and we're really happy with how it turned out," she said in a phone interview Monday. "(But) just to have it said yet again that this is Whitney's last performance, it's hard. It's hard."

Houston is listed as the executive producer of the movie, which had already finished filming in Detroit when the superstar died Feb. 11 at 48 in Beverly Hills, Calif., on the eve of the Grammy Awards. An autopsy has shown she accidentally drowned in the bathtub, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.

There is no mention made of drugs in the trailer, and Chase declined to say whether it would be a focal part of the movie as it was in the original, saying she didn't want to talk specifically about the plotlines until closer to the movie's release date.

She also added that the movie was not altered to increase Houston's time in the film in the wake of her death.

"She is an integral, very much an integral part of the movie, but she's not one of the girls," she said. "She plays an important role, she's throughout the movie, but she's not one of the main characters."

Chase echoed other people involved with the movie who praised Houston's professionalism on the set. The movie was seen as a comeback vehicle for the star, whose career had waned over the years due to battles with drugs and alcohol.

"She was healthy, happy, on time every day, hung out on set when she wasn't working because she loved the cast," said Chase, who also declined to talk about the circumstances of Houston's death. "She had fun, her spirit buoyed everybody every day."

Houston had worked to get "Sparkle" to the screen for 12 years. It was her first movie since 1996's "The Preacher's Wife" and 20 years removed from her debut in the blockbuster movie "The Bodyguard," which was rereleased for one night last week.

"Whitney loved this movie very much. This was her idea," Chase said. "The great thing for me as her friend and her producing partner is that this movie will be an essential part of her legacy. ... It's the best performance of her life; she knew it at the time. She looked beautiful on camera and she enjoyed every minute making the movie."

Courtesy The Huffington Post

'Glee' Enlists Whoopi Goldberg for Multiepisode Arc

Fox's Glee is adding another Oscar winner to its ranks.

The View co-host -- and Academy Award-winning actress -- Whoopi Goldberghas booked a multiepisode role on the Ryan Murphy/Brad Falchuk musical dramedy, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

As first reported by TV Line, Goldberg will play Carmen Tibideaux, a theater veteran and professor at the New York school that Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) have applied to. 

Goldberg, who won her Oscar for her supporting turn in 1990's Ghost, is slated to first appear in Glee's May 1 episode and could stick around for three episodes and likely deliver the key verdict on the musical duo's aspirations of attending NYADA.

'Hunger Games' to Pass Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' as Lionsgate's Top-Grossing Movie

The controversial filmmaker cedes the box office crown as the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel hits theaters.

"Fahrenheit 9/11" and "The Hunger Games"

For nearly eight years, Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 has held the record as Lionsgate’s top-grossing domestic movie, but its reign ends this weekend as The Hunger Games hits movie theaters.Gary Ross’ adaptation of the Suzanne Collins novel about teenage gladiators, starring Jennifer Lawrence, is on track to rack up a blockbuster weekend – the movie collected $19.7 million at its midnight bows – and as early as Saturday, it will become the top-grossing movie in Lionsgate’s history, topping the $119.2 million that Fahrenheit collected when it was released in 2004.

Moore himself acknowledged the passing of the box office crown in a tweet on Friday, writing, “A record will fall this weekend: Fahrenheit 9/11, the largest grossing movier ever released by Lionsgate, will be replaced by TheHungerGames."

Produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein during their tenure at Miramax Films, the $6 million movie, which recounts the build up to the war in Iraq in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, became a political hot potato following its debut at the Cannes Film Festival. When Disney, which then owned Miramax, refused to allow Miramax to release the film, the Weinsteins bought it back  and then reached a deal to distribute it through Lionsgate and IFC Films.

Released on June 25, 2004, Fahrenheit went on to gross $119.2 million domestically and another $103.3 in foreign markets, where it was handled by various local distributors. Its worldwide total is $222.4 million. However, while Moore’s previous documentary 2002’s Bowling for Columbine won the Oscar for best documentary, Fahrenheit failed to earn an Academy Award nomination.

But Fahrenheit's status as Lionsgate’s top-grosser remained secure for eight years. Its closest challenger came in 2010, when Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables grossed $103.1 million. The studio’s other top-grosses, which will now all be overshadowed by Hunger Games are Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, which grossed $90.5 million in 2009; Saw II, which brought in $87 million in 2005; and Saw III, which posted $80.2 million in 2006.

Bobbi Kristina's Boyfriend Whitney Houston's Drug Dealer?

Bobbi Kristina's boyfriend and "adopted brother" Nick Gordon was allegedly also Whitney Houston's drug dealer.

Whitney took Nick in as her own ten years ago when he was 12-years-old, but it recently came to light that he is involved in a romantic relationship with Bobbi Kristina in the aftermath of the singer's passing in January.

Now, sources claim that Nick also served as Whitney's drug dealer and would allow him to use her money to buy marijuana for herself and Bobbi.

"Whitney let Nick [Gordon] use her ATM card to withdraw money so he could buy marijuana for Krissi and her," a source told the National Enquirer.

"I also remember Nick finding a supplier who'd sell him the prescription drug Adderrall for $5 a pill. Krissy was taking lots of them every day. But Whitney had no idea that Nick was also using her money to supply Krissy with cocaine."

Do you believe these claims? Is Nick a bad influence on Bobbi

Whitney Houston Official Cause of Death Released; Cocaine Found in System

The singer, who died Feb. 11, accidentally drowned in the bathtub of her Beverly Hilton hotel room

Getty Im

When Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room bathtub at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, much of the discussion focused on the singer's history of substance abuse.The Los Angeles County Coroner's office issued her official death Thursday, ruling it an accidental drowning. A coroner rep tellsThe Hollywood Reporter that the drowning is being attributed to atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.

No evidence of cocaine was found on the scene, but the drug was found in her system.

Houston, whose drug use and erratic behavior had eclipsed her storied music career, died the day before the Grammy Awards at age 48. The "I Will Always Love You" superstar's body was found submerged underwater in a bathtub on the fourth floor of the hotel, and when emergency medics arrived, it was too late. She could not be revived and was pronounced dead half an hour after 911 was called.

Oprah's Bobbi Kristina Interview Gives OWN Ratings Record With 3.5 Million Viewers

 The first interview with the late Whitney Houston's daughter and other family members brings the year-old cable network its most watched telecast ever.

Sunday's episode of Oprah's Next Chapter set a new ratings precedent for OWNFast affiliate ratings give Winfrey's interview with the late Whitney Houston's family, including daughterBobbi Kristina, a whopping 3.5 million viewers over the course of the hour and a half broadcast.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston 1963-2012 -- The Iconic Singer's Life and Career in Pictures

By far the network's most watched telecast ever -- a Jan. Next Chapter with pastor Joel Osteen nabbed 1.6 million -- the broadcast also earned a 3.1 rating in the network's sought after women 25.54 demo.

The special also managed to build in every half hour, improving between 9:00 and 10:30 p.m. ET.

PHOTOS: Whitney Houston Funeral -- Fans and Loved Ones Honor the Legendary Star

Competitive data and full cable reports won't likely come through until Tuesday, but 3.5 million will likely put Oprah's Next Chapter among the top 5 broadcasts.

The interview, announced on little more than a week's notice, marks more good news for the network which had ratings challenges at its launch. OWN recently posted substantial year over year growth in the month of February, growing an average 12 percent in primetime and 29 percent for the total day.