CNN Films has announced a new Dionne Warwick documentary. DIONNE WARWICK: Don’t Make Me Over, named in part after a song lifted from her 1963 debut album Presenting Dionne Warwick, arrives at the beginning of 2023.
Dave Wooley wrote, produced, and directed Warwick’s forthcoming film with directorial input from David Heilbroner. It will cover the pop icon’s remarkable six-decade career, including her initial rise to stardom and her soaring above the odds to be recognized as an influence and one of the pillars in music.
DIONNE WARWICK: Don’t Make Me Over will dive into her catalog, unveiling the stories behind signature songs, from “I Say A Little Prayer” and “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?” to “Alfie” and “That’s What Friends Are For,” to name a few.
“Working on DIONNE WARWICK: Don’t Make Me Over has been a true labor of love. We wanted to make a film that people wouldn’t just see…we wanted viewers to feel transported. This is the story of a transformational, global icon,” says Wooley.
The film includes archival footage of Warwick’s most treasured moments, as well as interviews from Warwick herself, in addition to family, collaborators and other music figures such as Burt Bacharach, Cissy Houston, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Clive Davis, Quincy Jones, Alicia Keys, Berry Gordy, and many more.
Former president Bill Clinton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Kevin Frost and Kenneth Cole, will also appear in the film and offer words about Warwick.
Here’s some history on Warwick’s “Don’t Make Me Over.” Introduced as her debut single in 1962, the song was penned and composed by Bacharach and Hal David, two of her closest collaborators. It peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1963. That same month, it fared better on R&B charts, reaching No. 5.
The documentary previously premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, winning two subsequent awards, at the Montclair Film Festival and Gene Siskel Film Center’s Black Harvest Film Festival, respectively.
DIONNE WARWICK: Don’t Make Me Over will air Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, at 9 p.m. local time, exclusively on CNN. The following day, it will be on-demand across CNN platforms before it moves to stream on HBO Max.
Warwick hasn’t released a proper album since She’s Back, her first album dedicated to R&B and soul since 1969’s Soulful. Released in May 2019, the effort included ten songs that involved artists such as Kenny Lattimore, Musiq Soulchild and Krayzie Bone of Bone, Thugs & Harmony. It also featured remastered recordings from her decade-spanning catalog to that point.
Later that year, she released the holiday album Dionne Warwick & the Voices of Christmas. She collaborated with Chloe x Halle, Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Eric Paslay and Michael McDonald, among many others.
In November 2021, Warwick joined Chance the Rapper for “Nothing’s impossible.” She had The Weeknd in mind for the unexpected tune. She followed with another song “Power In The Name” featuring Krayzie Bone and Nomad.