Whitney Houston biopic films scenes in Arlington

Coyotes are not the only travelers in Arlington getting the public’s attention; this past week some new guests spent some time in town: movie stars. 

The stars, which included four-time Emmy Award winner Stanley Tucci and Star Wars alum Naomi Ackie, were in town working on the movie “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” which is being filmed in Arlington from Oct. 13 to Oct. 15. The film is a biopic of the late pop singer Whitney Houston. 

The film rented out the parking lot of Saint Camillus church in Arlington, where it was used to house trailers and film production staff during their stay. Filming took place at 18 Randolph St. and the crew set up a production area at that address.

Police closed off Randolph Street on Oct. 14 early in the morning and production was expected to last into the early evening. Signs were up around Randolph Street signaling “I Wanna Dance With Somebody ‘B’ Zone” and production crew members could easily be seen milling around the location. 

As is customary for shoots in public locations, the windows and doorways of the home were masked with black curtains, so pedestrians and neighbors cannot see what is going on inside the home, where presumably scenes were being filmed. 

The movie stars Ackie as Houston, while Tucci plays the role of record executive Clive Davis. The film also stars Ashton Sanders, who plays singer and Houston’s husband, Bobby Brown, and Clarke Peters as Whitney’s father, John. 

The movie is directed by Newton native Kasi Lemmons, best known for “Harriet," a biopic of Harriet Tubman, released in 2019. The movie was written by Anthony McCarten, who also wrote the script for “Bohemian Rhapsody," the 2018 biopic about Queen singer Freddie Mercury. 

Producers for the movie told the entertainment news site Deadline that the film will be “joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time, tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom. While being very frank about the price that super-stardom exacted, it will be both the rich and complex saga of the search for the perfect marriage between song and singer and audience, and at the same time the moving tale of a simple Jersey girl trying to find her way back home.”

The film has a release date of Dec. 22, 2022.