Culture November 10, 2022

Watch the new trailer for 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody'

WATCH: Trailer drops for Whitney Houston biopic, ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’

A new trailer for the Whitney Houston biopic "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" has arrived.

In the upcoming Kasi Lemmons-directed film, arriving in theaters Dec. 23, British actress Naomi Ackie plays the late legendary music icon.

The trailer for the film starts with Ackie as Houston reacting to a radio host relaying criticism that her music "isn't Black enough."

MORE: Poster revealed for Whitney Houston movie, 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'

"Who said that? That's just bull and it makes me angry, actually," she responds. "It's hateful and uninformed."

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She then offers what she feels the critics are actually saying: "She's not obedient enough" or "fearful enough."

"Music is not a color to me. It has no boundaries. I sing what I want to sing. Be how I wanna be," she continues, as scenes from her 1991 Super Bowl performance, where she belted out the "Star Spangled Banner," flash across the screen.

The tone continues with Houston falling in love with Bobby Brown, played by Ashton Sanders, and butting heads with her father John Houston, who's played by Clarke Peters. Her father, who also served as her talent manager, voices his opposition to her romance because "it's damaging the brand."

"Since when did your little girl become a brand? I missed that," Houston fumes.

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" is written by Anthony McCarten, who penned the Oscar-winning Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody."

"The greatest voice of our time has an even greater story," the movie's official synopsis reads. "Discover the Whitney Houston you never knew."