The boss of Lionsgate Film has spoken about the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic, and whether it’s being split into two films, as was previously rumoured.
The film, titled Michael, will see the King of Pop’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson take on the title role, while Oscar nominee Colman Domingo will play his father, Joe Jackson. It will hit the big screen on April 24, 2026.
In May, it was reported that the film could potentially be split into two parts for length, though as of the time of writing, the two-parter has not been confirmed.
Following the release of the first trailer for Michael yesterday (November 6), Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Groups spoke of the potential split during a quarterly earnings call with analysts, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“While we’re not yet ready to confirm plans for a second film, I can tell you that the creative team is hard at work making sure that we’re in a position to deliver more Michael soon after we release the first film,” Fogelson said.
Fogelson also shared that the studio is very pleased with the director’s cut of the film: “Since the last time we were together on an earnings call, we have now had the great pleasure of seeing the director’s cut of the first film, and it is exceptional.”
The film has already attracted some criticism, including from Dan Reed, the director of the documentary Leaving Neverland, which documented allegations of sexual abuse against Michael. Reed criticised the making of the new biopic, saying it “will glorify a man who raped children”.
Reed later said he had read a draft of the script in which the men who made the allegations in Leaving Neverland were discredited. “Jackson is only ever seen caring for children with childhood cancer, or dancing with a little girl in a wheelchair, or tucking up multiple little boys, mostly his nephews, at sleepovers,” Reed said of the script. “It feels like the creators of the movie have been stuck in a room with John Branca and just told what to write.”
Reports emerged at the start of this year that the film had been delayed after they were forced to reshoot the third act due to its unsanctioned portrayal of the Jordan Chandler case.
Actor Colman Domingo, who will play Michael Jackson’s father Joe in the upcoming biopic, has defended the project, saying that “everyone has a story to tell”. He said the film will look at the “complex human being” behind the star.
Most recently, Michael’s own daughter Paris has distanced herself from the film after Domingo claimed she had been “very helpful” on set. Paris refuted the claims, saying she had zero involvement in the the biopic after she shared some notes with the film’s writers after reading an early script but was ignored.
“I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest/didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and God speed,” she wrote on social media.
“The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom and they’re going to be very happy with that… the thing about these biopics are… it’s Hollywood. It’s fantasyland, it’s not real but it’s sold to you as real. A lot of sugarcoated… the narrative is being controlled. There is a lot of inaccuracy and a lot of full-blown lies.”
She concluded on the matter: “And at the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. I don’t really like dishonesty. I spoke up, I wasn’t heard, I fucked off. That’s it. You’re gonna like the fucking movie so just go watch it, go enjoy it, do whatever. Just leave me out of it.”