‘Kurt and Courtney’ Director Preps Whitney Houston Documentary
Filmmaker Nick Broomfield — known for controversial documentaries like Kurt and Courtney and Biggie and Tupac — is helming a new film about Whitney Houston for BBC Two.
Per the network, Whitney “goes in search of the forces that made and then destroyed the singer who has been described as having one of the greatest voices of the last 50 years.” A release date has yet to be announced.
While the film is still in its early stages, it doesn’t have the initial support of the singer’s family. Asked about the film, a spokesperson for Houston’s family tells Rolling Stone, “The Whitney Houston Estate has no involvement in this program whatsoever.”
Broomfield’s extensive filmography includes a slew of documentaries examining an array of infamous subjects from sex workers and serial killers to politicians and musicians. Kurt and Courtney is particularly notorious for suggesting Courtney Love was involved in Kurt Cobain’s death; while in Biggie and Tupac, Broomfield posits that Suge Knight was behind the murders of both MCs, with help from members of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Houston died in February 2012 with an autopsy report naming accidental drowning as the cause of death, although cocaine use and a heart condition were listed as contributing causes.
In 2015, the singer’s life was turned into a Lifetime biopic, also called Whitney, directed by Angela Bassett and starred Yaya DaCosta in the title role. The film, however, drew sharp criticism from Houston’s family, with sister-in-law Pat Houston writing, “You should not be surprised that someone decided to do a made-for-TV biopic. And, I might add, without the family’s blessing and despite her mother’s request to not do this movie. It happens every day.”