Remaking 'The Bodyguard': Who will replace Whitney Houston?

 

A remake of the '90s box office smash is in the works, and the search is on for the right singer-turned-actress to play the lead

 

The 1992 film The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, was a critical failure but a huge box office success, grossing $411 million worldwide. Naturally then, a remake is on the way. In the new version, the bodyguard character will reportedly be an Iraq War veteran rather an ex-Secret Service agent, and internet stalking will be involved. But a central question remains: Is there a diva out there who could possibly fill Whitney Houston's shoes in the lead role? Here are six possibilities:
1. Beyonce
She's "one of the most obvious choices," says Sean O'Neal at The Onion's AV Club. But don't count on it, since she's already slated to star in another musical remake, Clint Eastwood's A Star Is Born.

2. Rihanna
The statuesque Barbados beauty has long been interested in crossing over ino the movie biz — and this "could be just the push she needs to get people thinking of her as a serious actress, and not just a dulcet-voiced video vixen," says Kat Rosenfield at MTV.

3. Jennifer Hudson
She's one of my top picks, says Rosenfield. "She'd bring the darn house down in this role," and "it's been way too long since the glorious belt-fest that was Dreamgirls."

4. Lady Gaga
Would the eccentric icon be "too weird?" asks Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. Nah, I can imagine a version with her and Idris Elba ("The Office," "The Wire") and I "like it," says Kyle Buchanan in New York. "If Warners has the chutzpah to cast Lady Gaga," says Jordan DeSaulnier at I Am Rogue, "this remake would suddenly justify itself through sheer ... craziness."

5. Lea Michele
The "Glee" star has already proven that she's a "great small-screen diva" and "she's got the vocal chops," says Rosenfield. True, but I'm not sure she has the right look, says Katie Hasty at HitFix. "She's more a Disney character than a glamorous global superforce."

6. Taylor Swift
The country-pop princess may be eager to do more acting — she appeared in the movie Valentine's Day and on an episode of "CSI" — but she's not right for the part, says Hasty. "Her utter likeability and girl-next-door image may not lend easily to the 'fearless' complexity and dimension of the larger-than-life role."

 

                                 !!  I SAY NO FOR THE REMAKE !!