Michael Jackson’s complex legacy was always going to be the subject of an ambitious biopic.
A recent story from Puck claims that the film, which stars Jaafar Jackson as his late uncle, has been rescheduled from its April release date to October due to screenplay issues.
Here is what we currently know about the project.
With a book by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan and a director by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “The Equaliser”), “Michael” depicts the story of the late superstar, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 50 from severe propofol intoxication.
The film’s producer, Graham King, has complimented the choice of Jackson’s older brother, Jermaine Jackson’s son, to portray the lead.
“Every look, every note, every dance move is Michael with Jaafar,” King stated in a press release in February 2024. “He portrays Michael in a manner that no other performer could.”
In the same press release, Fuqua compared it to magic.
The director stated, “We have put together an amazing crew of artists for this project—hair and makeup, costumes, cinematography, choreography, lighting, everything—and some who knew and worked with Michael are reuniting for this film.” Above all, though, Jaafar is the one who personifies Michael. It’s more than just a physical similarity. Miraculously, Michael’s spirit emerges. It must be experienced for you to believe it.
Nia Long, Colman Domingo, and Miles Teller are among the film’s characters.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Pool/Getty Images
According to a report by Matthew Belloni of Puck last week, the $150 million project has encountered a significant obstacle.
The 1993 inquiry into Jackson’s alleged sexual assault by Jordan Chandler, then 13 years old, is reportedly included in the “Michael” script. The creative team behind the film was unaware of the settlement’s alleged ban against dramatising the Chandler family until after filming was finished, which necessitated a reworking of the picture, according to Puck.
Other people accused Michael Jackson of sexual abuse besides Chandler. When Jackson was alive, he rejected all of these accusations, and his relatives still do.
Jackson was accused of seven charges of committing a “lewd act upon a child” in 2003 after a boy with cancer who was invited to the celebrity’s house made the accusations.
Jackson fed him drinks and caressed him when he was thirteen, the youngster claimed. Jackson entered a not-guilty plea and was found not guilty of the charges.
A 2019 documentary called “Leaving Neverland” by HBO (owned by CNN’s parent company) explored James Safechuck and Wade Robson’s unsettling allegations that Jackson sexually assaulted them as minors over several years.
Robson claimed that during his childhood, he spent multiple nights at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in California. As a child, Safechuck accompanied Jackson in a Pepsi commercial and claimed to have visited the singer’s house frequently.
They both defended Jackson against claims of sexual assault, but they later sued the singer’s estate with their abuse claims (Safechuck in 2014, Robson in 2013). The charges were refuted by Jackson’s estate. Their lawyer claims that although their suits were first rejected on technical grounds, the battle is still going on.
In “Leaving Neverland,” the Jackson family refuted the accusations, referring to the movie as a “public lynching” and implying that the accusers were driven by greed. The current release date for “Michael” is October 3, 2025.
