i completely lost it. >> reporter: for deborah martin chase, is this a bittersweet day, she's releasingct without its biggest star. now, a haunting voice from the grave. a reminder of what went wrong. >> i feel like this is my gift to her. because this is what people will remember. they will remember her beautiful. and spiritual. and strong. and passionate. for this movie. ♪ >> reporter: i'm deborah roberts for "nightline" in los angeles. >> so much talent. "sparkle" opens this friday, august 17th. our thanks to deborah roberts. >>> when we come back, taylor swift debuts her new song on youtube. "we are never ever getting back together." our exclusive story behind the music. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] start with a simple idea. think. drink coffee. hatch a design. kill the design. design something totally original. do it again. that's good. kick out the committees. call in the engineers. call in the car guys. call in the nerds. build a prototype. mold it. shape it. love it. give it 40 mpg. no, 41. give it a huge display. give it a starting price under 16 grand. take it to the car shows. get

for deborah martin chase this is a bittersweet week.ing a treasured project without its biggest star. now a haunting voice from the grave, a reminder of what was. >> this movie will be what people remember. they will remember her beautiful and spiritual and strong and passionate for this movie. ♪ thank you lord >> reporter: i'm deborah roberts in los angeles. >> that is actually -- i think i'm looking forward to seeing that. >> are you really? >> yeah, that song "celebrate" that sparks is talking about, she loves that song. they actually recorded that in the studio just four days before whitney passed away. >> they were set to walk the red carpet together at the grammys. and she got the call that night. >> she got the call that night. >> yes. >> it reminds me of "batman returns." >> saw that recently. >> that tragic ending, you know for him and seeing him back on the big screen. but i think this is a little different. we are going to see whitney in the light that is going to be very becoming of her. >> looking forward to it. >> we'll be

>> reporter: houston's sudden passing left studio execs and film makers like producer deborah martin chase scrambling for answers about the film's release date and its script. >> there are a couple of lines in the movie that in light of events, you hear them and you're like, oh, my god. i can't believe she is saying that. >> was my life not enough of a cautionary tale for you? >> the world was asking would we speed up the release of the movie. >> reporter: cinematic arts professor jason squire. >> oh, yes, all the time. >> reporter: and this entertainment lawyer agree that "sparkle is" is part of an unfortunate trend in hollywood, feature films requiring crisis management. >> you really need to repackage them and repurpose them that will not put off audiences. >> reporter: like earlier this year when neighborhood watchman george zimmerman shot and killed florida teenager trayvon martin. >> changing the title, "the watch," it used to be "neighborhood watch" because it was simply inappropriate after the headlines. >> reporter: and even more recently in july, when a gunman opened fire on a mi

and so this is her baby, "sparkle" was her baby her and deborah martin chase who was the executive producermovie. you know, they had this going for 12 years. >> they optioned it years ago. leah was supposed to star in it originally. >> that's correct. they found their perfect person in jordin so this was a close to home project for her. it was in her heart so she was singing the parts with the girls and would do the movements with the girls. she was very, very excited to be a part of this. >> we're very happy that you came in to share some of these memories. by all accounts, everything i have read, this is a fantastic movie and from what i read everyone is going to be even that much more heartbroken because whitney could act. >> yes. >> and in this movie apparently, she does a really good job. >> she does a phenomenal job. she is a one-take wonder that's what we would call her on set. whitney you want to go through your lines? girl, i got it. i got it. and she had it! >> kym, come on the show again and continued good luck. >> thank you so much the good to see you. >> you, too. >> wisdom, ba