Entertainment

I see dead people

When “Sparkle” opens today, it will not be known as Jordin Sparks’ first movie. It will be known as Whitney Houston’s last. That’s just the way it goes.

The singer’s death in February is likely to hang over every aspect of the film, from how an audience will experience the eerily true-to-life storyline to the way it will be remembered.

And then there is the box office to consider.

PHOTOS: DEAD MOVIE STARS

When a star passes away before his or her final work is released, does it help or hurt?

The uncomfortable truth is, “from a p.r. point of view, it’s probably a plus,” says one Hollywood insider.

It’s cynical but accurate. Interest in “Sparkle” is likely to be higher because of what happened to Houston in a Beverly Hills bathtub.

“What you lose is her promoting the movie, and what you gain is her being very prominent because she died,” says Jorge Saralegui, producer of 2002’s “Queen of the Damned,” which opened six months after the death of its star, Aaliyah.

“Aaliyah’s death elevated the profile of the movie,” adds Saralegui. “You just get so many more [media] mentions.”

“Dark Blood,” the movie River Phoenix was shooting when he died in 1993, is finally set to see the light of day next month after being tied up in legal wrangling. The film is already creating buzz ahead of its Netherlands Film Festival premiere.

“I get quite a lot of mail

from River fans that are happy that something is happening,” says “Dark Blood” director George Sluizer.

But releasing a film with a deceased lead can be a tricky business. It’s a fine line between selling the movie and appearing exploitative. Imagine how Batman fans would have reacted had every ad for 2008’s “The Dark Knight” declared, “One of Heath Ledger’s gripping final performances!” (“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was Ledger’s final film to be released.)

“Did anyone discuss the possibility of milking Aaliyah’s death? No,” Saralegui says. “That would not be humanity on its best day, and it wouldn’t give you any particular upside.

“Who are you going to reach that wasn’t being reached, versus who are you going to turn off?”

Occasionally, a death can hurt a movie’s prospects. Action star Brandon Lee died after being accidentally shot on the set of 1994’s “The Crow” — a far different circumstance from Houston dying from drugs after her film had wrapped or Phoenix collapsing on an LA sidewalk during a night out.

“A number of people over the years have told me that the events surrounding the loss of Brandon made them want to stay away from the film,” says “The Crow” producer Jeff Most. “I don’t think it made the film more popular.”

Most says the film was rejected by every major studio before being picked up by Harvey Weinstein and Dimension.

“One friend of mine who was the president of a studio called me and said, ‘Jeff, that’s the darkest film I’ve ever seen. We wouldn’t know what to do with it,’ ” Most says. “It’s somewhat dark material, but people saw it in a much darker light because of the loss of Brandon.”

Sluizer, who sadly is gravely ill with a terminal disease, predicts audiences won’t see “Dark Blood” in a morbid light.

“Michelangelo died in the Middle Ages, but I don’t mind seeing a statue of his,” he says. “Time solves a lot of problems and makes it easier.”

Plus, “for me, the commercial aspect is secondary. I’m a free man. I’m still alive, and I have nothing to lose.”

In the end, if there is added publicity from an untimely demise, it can only go so far if the product is subpar. Chris

Farley’s risible swan song, “Almost Heroes,” is nearly forgotten; James Dean’s “Giant” is not. Craft is what’s most important.

“John Candy’s last film, ‘Wagons East!’ did no business, because it wasn’t a good film,” Most says. “And John Candy was a far bigger star at the time that he died than Brandon was.”

reed.tucker@nypost.com