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DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Angela Bassett

VETERAN ACTRESS Angela Bassett is to direct a biopic about late friend Whitney Houston.

The Lifetime TV channel will air a movie about the musical superstar, who died in 2012, and her turbulent relationship with ex-husband Bobby Brown. It also promises to chronicle the I Will Always Love You singer's rise to fame.

Brown and Houston were divorced at the time of her 2012 drowning death in a hotel bathtub at age 48.

Bassett, 55, starred alongside Houston in 1995's Waiting To Exhale and the two remain friends.

OLD FRIENDS: Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston starred in 1995's Waiting To Exhale

Lifetime says Oscar nominee Bassett will be making her directorial debut with the project, as she also has another project (Book Of The Year) lined up to direct after the biopic.

In a statement, Bassett says she has high regard for both Houston's and Brown's talents and feels a responsibility in telling their story.

Lifetime says the movie, with the working title Whitney Houston, will air in 2015.

The cast hasn't been announced.

REMEMBERED: Whitney Houston