The concept of making a documentary evolved when Lisa Erspamer worked as co-executive producer for the singer’s special two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009. In 2015 Erspamer approached the sister-in-law Pat Houston and Houston’s film agent Nicole David to discuss the idea. Nicole David then suggested Scottish film director Kevin Macdonald. Co-producer Simon Chinn recalls: “We raised the full budget in 10 days exclusively from theatrical pre-sales which is quite possibly a first for a documentary.”
Filming
In July 2016, Macdonald began filming the interviews of around 70 people. Important members that are interviewed were Ellen White, a family friend, Mary Jones, longtime personal assistant, Houston’s older brothers Michael and Gary and other members of the Houston family. Houston’s mother Cissy was interviewed in Newark, New Jersey, others were conducted in Los Angeles, New York City and Atlanta. More than 1,500 tapes of archival footage of varying quality were found including 250 masters, 2,000 stills and footage originally discovered on YouTube with Sam Dwyer as archive producer. Private footage was gathered from all over the world including Japan, the Netherlands and Los Angeles.
Post-production
A substantial amount of the editing, including changing screen size, and frame rate was done at Molinare, a post-production company in London’s Soho.
Music
Composer Adam Wiltzie was in charge of the film's music and score. Some excerpt examples used in the soundtrack for the film:
The film is a joint British-American venture produced by Lisa Erspamer Entertainment and Lightbox, with Roadside Attractions, Miramax and Altitude Film Distribution serving as distributors. It is also presented in association with Altitude Film Entertainment. Whitney was released in cinemas in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland on 6 July 2018, by Altitude and Roadside Attractions. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on 26 July 2018. The worldpremiere for the film was on 16 May 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival. Screenings also took place at the Edinburgh and Sydney Film Festivals.
Marketing
The official teaser trailer for the UK and Ireland was released by Altitude Films on 5 April 2018 on YouTube with the full trailer released on 25 May 2018.
It was released in widescreen by digital download on 2 October and DVD/Blu-ray on 16 October 2018. The DVD and Blu-ray releases include audio commentary from producer Simon Chinn and director Kevin Macdonald, photo gallery and theatrical trailer. The film debuted at #1 on 4 November 2018, staying at that position for two weeks on the UK Official Music Video Chart, based on sales of DVDs and other physical formats.
Reception
Box office
Whitney began its release on 6 July 2018. During its opening weekend in the United States and Canada it grossed $1.3 million from 452 theaters, finishing 11th at the box office. 65% of its audience was female, with 35% being between the age of 25-49. In the United Kingdom, the film opened on 6 July 2018 grossing £142,936 from 231 screens in its opening weekend, finishing twelfth at the box office. It grossed another £44,968 on 174 screens in its second weekend, a 68% decrease over the first week grossing a total of £323,532 through 10 days. Over 13 weeks it grossed a total of £459,725.
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 151 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Whitney shifts from soaring highs to heartbreaking lows with palpable emotion and grace befitting its singular subject." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Terri White for Empire gave it 4/5, calling it: "A sobering, haunting but completely fresh look at Whitney’s life and death that will reframe everything you think you know about the singer." Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "In “Whitney,” Macdonald lays out Houston’s story—the light and the darkness—in a classically etched, kinetically edited way. He makes superb use of archival footage, tickles us with montages of her heyday, and interviews her family members and associates. The film captures the quality that made Whitney Houston magical, but more than that it puts together the warring sides of her soul."
