Taylor Swift’s fans are convinced the pop superstar will be taking on Whitney Houston’s iconic role in a remake of the beloved 1992 film, The Bodyguard.
The romantic thriller originally starred Kevin Costner, 70, as Frank Farmer, a former Secret Service agent turned professional bodyguard, who is hired to protect Rachel Marron (Houston), a famous singer and actress, from an unknown stalker.
Now, a remake of the movie is reportedly being developed by the director of Swift’s 2023 documentary, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, 13 years after Whitney drowned in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub aged just 48.
Numerous intriguing details have led fans to speculate that Swift, 35, could be stepping into Houston’s shoes for the remake.
Model Tyra Banks weighed in on the subject on Monday, suggesting Swift and Luther hunk Idris Elba, 52, for the central romantic roles in the new adaptation.
Amid the latest rumors, DailyMail.com takes a look at all the clues that the Bad Blood hitmaker might star in the iconic role.
Taylor Swift’s fans are convinced the star, 35, will be taking on Whitney Houston’s iconic role in a remake of the 1992 film The Bodyguard; (L) Swift seen in 2024, (R) Whitney seen in a still
The original film starred Kevin Costner, 70, as Frank Farmer, a former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, who is hired to protect Rachel Marron (Houston), a famous singer and actress, from a stalker
Sam Wrench, Director of Swift’s Eras Tour, to Helm The Bodyguard Remake
On Friday, it was revealed that the remake will be directed by Sam Wrench.
Warner Bros. reportedly asked Wrench, 34, to helm the project, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
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The Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker previously directed Swift’s 2023 concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
The film captures Swift’s Los Angeles performances from The Eras Tour (which ran from 2023 to 2024), her sixth headlining concert tour and the highest-grossing tour in history.
The Eras Tour film is the highest-grossing concert movie ever, bringing in $261.7 million globally during its limited time in theaters.
Wrench’s prior projects include A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter.
The script is being written by Jonathan Abrams, who also penned last year’s Clint Eastwood film, Juror #2.
A previous screenplay for the long-planned remake, which has been in development in various forms since 2011, was written by Matthew Lopez.
The remake will be directed by Sam Wrench, 34, who previously directed Swift’s 2023 concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour; Swift and Wrench seen at the LA premiere
The film, which captured Swift’s Eras Tour performances, became the highest-grossing concert movie ever, bringing in $261.7 million globally; she is seen performing in 2024
The Bodyguard marked Houston’s first appearance as a lead actress and was a major box office success, becoming the second-highest-grossing film globally in 1992.
The movie also received two Academy Award nominations and featured Houston’s iconic rendition of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You, a worldwide hit that earned her a Grammy and became her signature song.
The 1992 film was directed by Mick Jackson, based on a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan.
Tyra Banks Says Taylor Should Star In Remake
On Monday, Tyra suggested that Swift and Idris should take on the lead roles.
While appearing on Today with Jenna & Friends, guest co-host Banks told Jenna Bush Hager that Swift in the lead role would certainly equal great commercial success.
‘I’m so beyond excited. That movie is everything,’ Banks, 51, shared.
Model Tyra Banks weighed in on the subject on Monday, suggesting Swift and Idris Elba, 52, for the romantic roles in the new adaptation, while appearing on Today with Jenna and Friends
‘I think Taylor Swift, ’cause business and commerce, art — she would freakin’ sell like crazy,’ Tyra said; Swift and Idris seen in 2019 at Golden Globe Awards
She added, ‘I’m just gonna be real, I’m a Black girl, it was Whitney Houston as a Black girl, Kevin Costner as a White man. What if we flipped it and it was Taylor Swift and Idris Elba? Hot!’ she stated; Coster and Houston seen in a still
As for the casting, she said: ‘I think Taylor Swift, ’cause business and commerce, art — she would freakin’ sell like crazy.’
‘But, okay, I’m just gonna be real, I’m a Black girl, it was Whitney Houston as a Black girl, Kevin Costner as a White man. What if we flipped it and it was Taylor Swift and Idris Elba? Hot!’ she added.
When Bush Hager, 43, asked, ‘Why don’t you be in The Bodyguard?’ Tyra replied, ‘Hell no. We need somebody that can really sing.’
Taylor Greatly Admires Whitney
Taylor previously expressed her admiration for Whitney.
‘I was a huge fan of Whitney,’ Swift told E News in 2012.
‘And I was also a fan of her spirit. She was always smiling and I just always felt like she was relatable.’
The two singers have much in common.
Swift and Houston are two of the most significant female artists in music history, each achieving phenomenal success.
Houston is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 200 million records sold worldwide.
Her self-titled debut album and its follow-up, Whitney, broke numerous sales records.
Taylor previously expressed her admiration for Whitney. ‘I was a huge fan of Whitney. And I was also a fan of her spirit. She was always smiling and I just always felt like she was relatable,’ Swift told E News in 2012; Houston seen in a still from The Bodyguard
She had numerous signature hits that remain beloved classics, including I Will Always Love You, Saving All My Love for You, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), and The Greatest Love of All.
Houston received countless awards, including six Grammy Awards.
Swift is one of the best-selling music artists of the 21st century and the highest-grossing touring artist.
She is the first musician to amass a billion-dollar net worth primarily through music.
She has won 14 Grammy Awards, including a record four Album of the Year awards.
Singer Wants Redemption After Cats Flop
Taylor could be looking to prove herself on the big screen once again, following her role in the 2019 film adaptation of the musical Cats, which received a dismal reception.
Despite its huge budget and A-list cast – including Swift, Idris, Dame Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden – critics panned the movie.
The film, directed by Tom Hooper, was a critical and commercial flop, with criticism focusing on the CGI effects, plot and acting performances.
In the film, Taylor played principal character Bombalurina, a flirtatious and confident female cat with a distinct red coat.
It was universally savaged by critics, even receiving one reviewer’s first ever zero-rating.
Branded an ‘all-time disaster’ by one critic, the film was slammed as ‘jarring’, ‘a huge failure’, ‘soulless’ and just plain ‘wrong’ by movie buffs on both sides of the Atlantic.
Taylor could be looking to prove herself on the big screen once again, following her role in the 2019 film adaptation of the musical Cats, which received a dismal reception; seen in Cats still
The movie made $74.6million globally, which meant a loss of about $113.6million, according to Deadline.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he disliked the film version of Cats so much he bought a ‘therapy dog’.
The theatre impresario said he was let ’emotionally damaged’ by the star-studded big screen adaptation of his classical musical, which he described as ‘off-the-scale wrong’.
It was also named worst film of the year at the 40th Golden Raspberry Awards.
Lord Lloyd Webber told Variety: ‘There wasn’t really any understanding of why the music ticked at all. I saw it and I just thought, ‘Oh, God, no.’
‘It was the first time in my 70-odd years on this planet that I went out and bought a dog. So the one good thing to come out of it is my little Havanese puppy.’
Swift And Idris Previously Worked Together
Should Swift and Elba collaborate on The Bodyguard remake, it wouldn’t be their first time working together, as they previously starred in Cats.
In 2019, he praised the singer as he talked about working together.
Should Swift and Elba collaborate on The Bodyguard remake, it wouldn’t be their first time working together, as they previously starred in Cats; pictured at NYC premiere in 2019
‘Taylor was great. Her and I had a lot of work to do together, and she was amazing. She worked hard and was just happy to be there,’ he told Variety.
Costner Is An Official Swiftie
It’s highly probable that Swift would have the backing of Costner, the original Bodyguard male lead.
In 2023, he brought his daughter Grace Avery, 14, to her Eras tour in Los Angeles, and later raved about the show on Instagram, calling himself an ‘official Swiftie’.
‘I had an amazing time with my daughter at the @taylorswift show. I was absolutely blown away watching her art bring so many people together,’ he wrote.
‘I had a great view of her band and had a blast watching them, too. An inspiring night. I’m officially a Swiftie!’
Kevin – who infamously once called Madonna’s Truth Or Dare tour ‘neat’ – attended one of the six sold-out concerts Taylor performed in Los Angeles.
She packed out Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, which seats over 70,000, during every single one of her scheduled shows there.
In January Costner shared a sweet memory with his late pal, Whitney, on his milestone 70th birthday.
After coming across a rare, behind-the-scenes photo of them together on set of The Bodyguard, the Yellowstone looked back on their close friendship and expressed gratitude to celebrate another year around the sun.
‘This photo reminds me of how lucky I am to be getting another birthday,’ he wrote on his Instagram Story as he shared an image that was uploaded to her account, which is managed by her estate. ‘We lost such a light when we lost Whitney.’
In 2023, Costner brought his daughter Grace Avery, 14, to Swift’s Eras tour in Los Angeles, and later raved about the show on Instagram, calling himself an ‘official Swiftie’
Earlier this year Costner shared a sweet memory with Whitney on his milestone 70th birthday, writing on Instagram, ‘We lost such a light when we lost Whitney’; the two seen in a still
The legendary singer was found dead in a bathtub on February 11, 2012. She was later determined to have died in an accidental drowning; pictured in 1994
In the picture, the two-time Oscar winner can be seen smiling while standing next to the pop icon, who died in 2012 at age 48, and hairstylist Ellin LaVar.
Last year, Costner revealed CNN tried to get him to shorten the eulogy he planned to deliver for Whitney Houston at her 2012 funeral.
While appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the actor claimed that the news network asked him to cut his tribute to Houston so that it could work in commercial breaks.
Ultimately, he insisted that he wasn’t willing to cut a word from his eulogy, and he dared CNN to cut to commercial in the middle of his speech.
Costner was one of eight people who spoke at Houston’s funeral, which was held in Newark, New Jersey.
The legendary singer was found dead in a bathtub on February 11, 2012, just hours before she was to attend Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy Awards party.
She was later determined to have died in an accidental drowning due to a combination of chronic cocaine abuse and heart disease.