Whitney Houston Interview: Talks 'Sparkle,' Aaliyah's Death And More In One Of Her Final Interviews

The late Whitney Houston will make a final appearance on the big screen this year. Sony Pictures announced plans to release "Sparkle" on Aug. 17 in the wake of the actress/singer's Feb. 11 passing, The Hollywood Reporter revealed. In November 2011, Houston sat down with "The Insider" and her co-star Jordin Sparks to discuss their upcoming film, which has been more than a decade in the making. Plans to reboot the 1976 film -- which is loosely based on the career of The Supremes -- were scrapped when Aaliyah, set to star in the movie, tragically passed away. "God has his own time," Houston said in the scarily timely interview. "I have to put in that perspective. "[Aaliyah] was absolutely perfect ... and we were gonna do this thing ... and then [it] just … happened. Very sad and very memorable moment for me. I remember just crying fiercely and profusely. And I was going to meet with her that next week before that tragedy," Houston explained to "The Insider." The question of "Who is our Sparkle?" plagued her for more than 10 years, but Houston knew that "when the time is right, it'll come back together." Eventually, "American Idol" champion Jordin Sparks was chosen to take on the role and Houston called her "just really, just perfect." Howard Rosenman, who helped executive produce both the original "Sparkle" and the remake, told THR of Houston: "This would have been a big, big comeback, she is so brilliant in it ... I was just raving about her performance, she was so great in it. I'm just in shock."