WORCESTER, Mass. - The Whitney Houston biopic "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" is filming on Saturday at the Worcester Regional Airport, according to sources.
The movie, expected to be released in December 2022, stars Naomi Ackie as the late singer. The cast also includes Stanley Tucci, Clarke Peters and Ashton Sanders.
Tents and trailers were staged Saturday in front of the airport.
According to a source, the airport is being transformed to look like a scene from the early 1980s.
According to IMDB.com synopsis, the movie is "the joyous, emotional and heart-breaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical super stardom."
The movie is being directed by Kasi Lemmons (Netflix's "Luke Cage") and is written by Oscar-nominee Anthony McCarten ("The Two Popes," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "The Theory of Everything"). The movie is being produced by SONY and Tri-Star.
Houston is the only artist to ever have seven consecutive number one singles on the Billboard 100. Her song "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" was released in 1987. She starred in movies like "The Bodyguard," "Waiting to Exhale," "The Preacher's Wife" and "Cinderella." Houston died in 2012.
"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" adds to the long list of movies filmed in Worcester this year, including "Spirited" with Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer, Marvel's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," and "Confess Fletch" starring Jon Hamm.
Filming for "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" has also been shot in the Boston-area this summer and fall.