Houston’s Comeback Film Still On

Whitney Houston will have one more debut on the big screen. Before her death, the singer and actress had filmed a comeback role in Sparkle, a film she had been trying to get made for more than a decade. (She’ll hold a producer’s credit.) A remake of a 1976 movie about three sisters who form a pop group, Sparkle is scheduled to be released Aug. 17, and the soundtrack will include new songs from Houston. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks will play a lead role as one of the singing sisters; Houston plays the mother. Houston found box-office success in the 1990s, starring in The Bodyguard, The Preacher’s Wife, and Waiting to Exhale.