Despite Whiney's Passing, Exhale Sequel Moves Ahead

Despite the unexpected passing of Whitney Huston over the weekend plans are moving forward for a proposed sequel to 1995's "Waiting to Exhale" Getting Happy--studio suit Elizabeth Gabler tells Vulture that "It’s almost in her honor that we think to soldier on."

Author Terry McMillian wrote the sequel book "Getting to Happy" in late 2010.

"Single Ladies" writer/producer Lori Lakin and McMillan have been working to adapt the book into a script for the past eighteen months.

The film now a priority, the studio will likely soon hire new writers who’ll be able to work on it full-time under the supervision of original 'Exhale' director Forest Whitaker.

The original followed four female friends (including Whitney Loretta Devine Lela Rochon and Angela Bassett) living in Arizona, their relationships with men, and their friendship with one another. The film became something of a social phenomenon for its portrayal of middle-class suburban African-Americans a demographic never really catered to on film at the time.