Whitney Houston hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 1996 romantic weepie The Preacher’s Wife, but she’s looking to make a return for a remake of 1976 music drama Sparkle.
Houston is now in negotiations to lead off the cast for the film, along with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks and Faster’s Mike Epps. It will still take its loose inspiration from the story of the Supremes (which, er, Dreamgirls anyone? Which also starred an established diva and an American Idol alumna).
Sparks (who clearly has the right name for the gig along with a proven set of pipes) will play the main character, one of the sisters who kick off their singing career in their Harlem church choir and find fame in the late 1950s as a successful girl group. But, naturally, the more their popularity grows, the deeper the problems in their personal lives become.
Houston’s role will be Sparkle’s mother, a resentful type who refuses to encourage her daughter. Epps is on as Satin, a stand-up comedian who marries one of the sisters and drags her down into drug abuse with him.
Salim Akil, who last directed wedding comedy **Jumping the Broom **(which also boasted Epps among its cast) is behind the camera, working from a script by his wife, Mara Brock Akil.
Sparkle has been in Houston’s life for a while now: she was part of the team (albeit only as a producer) trying to get it made at Warners years ago, an effort that was curtailed when proposed star Aaliyah died in a plane crash in August 2001. This time around, Sony is behind the movie, though there’s no word on when shooting will start.