Whitney Houston's 'Sparkle' Trailer Debuts (Video)

Monday's edition of the Today show featured a sneak peak of Whitney Houston's forthcoming film, Sparkle, which was to mark her big-screen comeback.

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The NBC morning program, in the throes of a heated ratings war with its ABC and CBS rivals, aired a snippet lasting less than a minute. Following Today's tease, Yahoo! exclusively posted the full trailer, which we've added below.

It shows Houston as the mother of three daughters of a girl-group on the rise; one of the singers is Sparkle, portrayed by Jordin Sparks.

Houston's character, Emma, has regrets over her failed music career, and her face falls watching old footage of a televised performance from her younger days. Houston, whose voice had faltered since her   Bodyguard days, is shown singing the gospel tune "His Eye On The Sparrow" in the trailer.

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Sparkle, for which Houston was an exec producer, is slated for release Aug. 17. It's a remake of the 1976 film about a singing group coping with fame and drugs.

Houston died in February after accidentally drowning in the bathtub of her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton. An autopsy released last month revealed cocaine was in the singer's system, and combined with a heart condition, could have contributed to her death.