Whitney Houston Lifetime Biopic Movie Release Date: Trailer Video Filled With Conflict

Lifetime doesn't have an unblemished record when it comes to crafting a biopic, and the upcoming Whitney Houston film doesn't seem to be an exception.

When the movie's trailer was released on Sunday, many noticed that it focused on the conflict in the singer's life more than anything else.

In "Whitney," Lifetime will try to salvage much of the reputation and goodwill it lost when it aired the biopic on Aliyah. That particular film titled "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B" eventually turned out to be the "laughingstock" of the Internet as several memes sprang up criticizing everything from the cast to the acting.

While "Whitney" is expected to fare better than "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B," it also has its fair share of negativity. One major drawback is that Houston's family is not enthusiastic about the film. Her mother even asked Entertainment Weekly in July to "please let her rest." She decried that "Lifetime is going ahead with the movie in spite of my family's objections and no one connected with the movie knew Whitney or anything about her relationship with Bobby."

The Daily Mail points out that Lifetime could not secure the rights to Houston's songs. This could ultimately work against the film just like it did for "Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B." In that film the music came in for a good amount of criticism as Lifetime failed to get the rights to Aaliyah's songs and had to rely on another artist.

When "Whitney" airs Jan. 17 at 8 p.m., its success and failure will rest mostly on the shoulders of its cast and director. With Yaya DaCosta playing Houston and Angela Bassett directing, this shouldn't be a tall order. However, many well intentioned films have gone wrong. "Whitney" -- which focuses on the singer's troubled relationship with husband Bobby Brown and her addiction to drugs -- could easily find itself on the fast road to failure.