Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner led the 1992 romance ‘The Bodyguard,’ which is getting a remake
Tyra Banks has a vision for the remake of The Bodyguard, and it involves another team-up between Taylor Swift and Idris Elba.
It was reported on Friday, April 11 that a new version of the iconic 1992 romance that starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner is in development, with Sam Wrench — the director of the 2023 Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert movie — set to direct it.
While discussing the news on Today with Jenna & Friends, guest co-host Banks told Jenna Bush Hager that Swift, 35, should lead the new film.
“I’m so beyond excited. That movie is everything,” said Banks, 51.
About who should take on the Houston role of a famous pop star who falls in love with her bodyguard, Banks suggested, “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!”
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Banks added that she is actively trying to make a movie with Elba, 52, at the moment. “We’re like WhatsApp friends right now. I’m like, ‘Are you down?’ he’s like, ‘Yeah, Banks.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna make this happen.’ I feel like we should do, like, the romance thing.”
Bush Hager, 43, asked, “Why don’t you be in The Bodyguard?” to which Banks said, “Hell no. We need somebody that can really sing.”
The Bodyguard starred late superstar Houston as Rachel Marron, a singer whose life turns dangerous because of a stalker, so she begrudgingly hires a former Secret Service agent named Frank Farmer (Costner) as her security.
Elba — who had a clip of his voice sampled on Swift’s song “London Boy” from her 2019 album Lover — and Swift both starred in the 2019 movie musical Cats, along with James Corden, Judi Dench, Rebel Wilson, Jason Derulo and Jennifer Hudson.
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In March 2019 he told Variety of working with the musician on Cats, “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.”
Costner is a Swift fan who brought his daughter to see her Eras tour in 2023 and later said of the experience, “I was absolutely blown away watching her art bring so many people together.” Costner and Elba both starred in the 2017 film Molly’s Game.
When he turned 70 in January, Costner marked his birthday by remembering his former Bodyguard costar Houston, who died in 2012 at age 48. “This photo reminds me of how lucky I am to be getting another birthday,” Costner wrote on Instagram at the time. “We lost such a light when we lost Whitney.”
