2017 marks the 25th anniversary of a movie that catapulted Whitney Houston to the kind of stardom that brought her to the absolute top of the game, that hasn’t been seen since, especially by another black female singer-actress.
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| Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons |
The Bodyguard, released in 1992, & co-starring the Academy award winner Kevin Costner, is a story of a music star, played by Houston who hires a former Secret Service agent, to protect herself from an unknown stalker. This was Whitney’s first appearance on celluloid, her debut as a Motion Picture actress.
At the time, the film became one of the 100 all-time highest grossing films worldwide with a box-office collection of over $500 million. The movie also became the 2nd highest grossing movie of the year 1992, while the soundtrack to the film, majority of which consists of only Whitney songs, and therefore essentially being a ‘Whitney Houston album’, became the highest selling Soundtrack of all time with over 45 million copies sold worldwide. Two songs from the film, “Run to You” and “I Have Nothing”, were nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. The movie is mostly remembered for it’s historic Soundtrack, particularly the songs sung by Whitney Houston. The lead single from the soundtrack, ‘I Will Always Love You’, became the signature song for Whitney and also the largest selling commercial single of all time.
The movie also had a cultural significance, as it was the first movie where interracial love was portrayed without being used as the main focus of the movie. The fact that the two leads who fall in love with each other were of not the same races was not focused upon in the movie, like movies released before it’s time. It was, The Bodyguard that made it more acceptable, or ‘normal’ so to speak, for different races (particularly black and white) to date.
We remember this iconic entertainer as it completes it’s 25 years of release this year, that showcased one of the brightest stars of Hollywood shine at her peak.
Here are some interesting tidbits highlighting the extra-ordinary commercial achievements of the movie:
1) The movie grossed over $500 million at the box-office (without inflation adjustments).
2) At the time, the film became one of the 100 all-time highest grossing films worldwide, though it has since fallen out.
3) It was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1992 in North America, and the second highest-grossing film of 1992, worldwide.
4) The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album became the best-selling soundtrack of all time and till this very day holds that position along with also being the biggest selling album by a female artist ever. It has been certified diamond in the US (sales of at least ten million) with shipments of over 17 million copies. Worldwide, the sales are over 45 million copies. In addition, Whitney’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” has sold 20 million units worldwide, making it the biggest selling single by a female artist ever.
5) Currently the movie ranks at number 9 among the All time Highest Grossing Romantic Drama’s in the US.
6) Currently it also ranks at #188 among the all time highest grossing movies worldwide (without inflation adjustments).
7) It ranks #1 in Worldwide gross among the “Leading Role Debuts of Music Stars” – much ahead of Beyonce’s ‘Austin Powers’ and Eminem’s ‘8 Mile’, marking the grandest ever entry of a music star into movies.
8) Following the success of the project, Whitney embarked on another expansive global tour, The Bodyguard World Tour, in 1993–94. Her concerts, movie, and recording grosses made her the third highest earning female entertainer of 1993–94.
9) In 1994, Whitney was placed in the top five of Entertainment Weekly’s annual “Entertainer of the Year” ranking and was labeled by Premiere magazine as one of the 100 most powerful people in Hollywood ahead of people like Martin Scorsese and Sylvester Stallone.
Watch the trailer of the classic below: