It’s the summer of 1988 and Michael Jackson has settled on top of the world. not only Thriller from 1982 has become the best-selling album of all time, but he has left the Jackson 5 (renamed The Jacksons) after one last tour, “Victory”, in 1984. “But, my friend, you haven’t seen anything / Wait until I get it,” he now sings at the top of his lungs before a packed audience while dancing on the stage of Wembley Stadium during a triumphant performance on the “Bad” world tour.
That’s where “Michael,” the Jackson biopic that opens Friday, concludes. It is a tremendous celebration of the singer, which reviews Jackson’s most memorable moments in pop culture, such as the “Thriller” video clip or the “Motown 25” special, where he popularized the moonwalk. But that wasn’t screenwriter John Logan’s initial plan. A series of reshoots altered the film’s ending, which initially included sexual abuse allegations against Jackson from 1993, Lionsgate confirmed. The studio also claimed that the outtake violated a previous agreement between whistleblower Jordan Chandler’s family and Jackson’s estate.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, “Michael” begins in Gary, Indiana, where a young King of Pop—played as an adult by his nephew Jaafar Jackson—rehearses with his brothers for their first concerts as the Jackson 5. After signing with Motown, Michael argues with his father, Joe (Colman Domingo), about the possibility of starting a solo career. “Michael” also shows Jackson’s recovery from second-degree burns suffered when his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984. Additionally, in other scenes, Jackson alludes to his experience with vitiligo, undergoing rhinoplasty, and visiting sick children in hospitals.
Jackson’s estate has been involved in the project from the beginning, giving up the rights to Jackson’s life and music, and later funding a costly re-recording.
The decision to omit the accusations against Jackson has been criticized. However, this approach also has its defenders: Lionsgate Studios and Universal Pictures cited the success of the Broadway musical “MJ the Musical” as proof of its effectiveness. Additionally, some Jackson fans and experts are glad that “Michael” is focusing on his music and not the alleged behavior that made him a tabloid fixture.
“I think the controversies have been explored to death,” Joe Vogel, author of “Man in the Music,” an album-by-album analysis of Jackson’s discography, told the Washington Post. “I mean, he was a singular artist, right? I don’t think it’s a bad thing to put emphasis or attention on his art from time to time.”
Despite the allegations against Jackson, “Michael” is expected to gross $150 million at the global box office this weekend, according to Deadline. Here’s everything you need to know about how the film addresses the Jackson controversies.
Why did it have to be recorded again?
After filming wrapped in 2024, Jackson’s estate realized they had a problem. Following abuse allegations brought forward by then-13-year-old Chandler in 1993, Jackson had signed an agreement with his family prohibiting both parties from speaking about what happened. As a result, a considerable amount of footage had to be cut, Lionsgate confirmed. (In 1994, Chandler’s family and Jackson reached a financial settlement in which Jackson denied any wrongdoing. Chandler and his family could not be reached for comment.)
Producer Graham King, along with the “Michael” team, reworked the film’s ending to omit Chandler, while the Jackson estate paid millions of dollars for reshoots and took an equity stake in the film, Lionsgate confirmed.
“It was crazy, surreal,” King told the Wall Street Journal. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me: finishing a film and discovering that you didn’t have the legal rights to tell that story.”
King declined to comment for this article.
The omitted footage also showed the 1993 police raid on Neverland Ranch, Jackson’s residence for many years. “I recorded [Jackson] being stripped naked, treated like an animal, a monster,” Fuqua told The New Yorker, adding that he did not know the truth about the accusations against the singer. (A representative for Fuqua told The Post that he was in pre-production on another project and was unavailable for comment.)
According to a report from Deadline, King received the rights to Jackson’s life and music from his estate months after the 2019 release of the controversial HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland.” That film focuses on two of Jackson’s posthumous accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who filed a joint lawsuit against the estate, which denies the allegations. “Robson and Safechuck’s lawsuits lack legal and factual basis,” Jonathan Steinsapir, an attorney for Jackson’s estate, said in a statement to The Post. The accusers’ lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Jackson’s estate sued HBO and ultimately got the documentary removed from the network’s streaming service, arguing that the film violated a non-defamation clause included in a 1992 contract between the network and Jackson. “It was resolved amicably,” HBO stated in a statement to The Post. The estate considered producing a counterdocumentary, but instead decided to support the making of a biographical film, John Branca, executor of Jackson’s estate, told the Financial Times. (Branca did not respond to request for comment.)
Dan Reed, director of “Leaving Neverland,” obtained a rough version of the script for “Michael.” In an interview with The Post, Reed commented that the script he read portrayed Jackson as a victim of Chandler’s “greedy” parents. However, he was not surprised that Jackson received sympathetic treatment.
“There is no way for a film produced by the heirs to characterize it [a Jackson] otherwise,” Reed said. “It seemed cruel to portray the boy… as a fraud. “It was quite shocking.”
Will there be a sequel?
Producers and studio executives have made no secret of the possibility of a sequel. The film itself hints at this, with a sign at the end that reads “His story continues.” Lionsgate has outlined a draft for a second film, noting that previously filmed scenes could be used if the sequel comes to fruition.
It’s unclear to what extent the sequel will focus on the sexual abuse allegations and legal cases Jackson faced — and fought — before his death in 2009 at age 50. In 2005, Jackson was tried and acquitted of abusing Gavin Arvizo, who was 13 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. (A lawyer who represented Arvizo’s family at the time did not respond to a request for comment, and The Post was unable to reach Arvizo.) Earlier this year, four siblings accused Jackson of sexually abusing them when they were children in a lawsuit.
For Vogel, the filmmakers of “Michael” have the opportunity to humanize Jackson. He hopes a possible sequel will show the accusations against Jackson in an even-handed way.
“My biggest concern is that these biopics tend to mythologize,” Vogel said. “They are very general. I like complexity and Michael is a very complex figure. In my opinion, it is a difficult task.”
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Ultimately, Vogel is more curious about a sequel because he believes the ’90s were Jackson’s most prolific period as a songwriter. For his part, Reed doesn’t believe there will be a second film about Jackson, in part because he doesn’t know how to address the accusations against him without alienating the public.
“I don’t think they’ll ever address that because… he was blatantly spending the night with kids,” Reed said. “He didn’t even deny it. I don’t know how that can be treated in a movie.”
In the 2003 documentary, “Living with Michael Jackson,” the pop star admitted that “a lot of kids” had slept in the same bed with him.
“Why can’t you share your bed?” Jackson asks at the beginning of the documentary, sitting next to Arvizo. “The most loving thing you can do is share a bed with someone.”
What role does the Jackson family play in all of this?
In 2023, it was announced that Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew, would play the character. Other members of the Jackson family, including Michael’s brothers Jermaine, Tito, Jackie, La Toya and Marlon, as well as his son Prince, are listed as executive producers of “Michael.” According to The Guardian, Michael’s family and friends were often present on set, while Jermaine gave his opinion to Fuqua.
However, not everyone in the Jackson family agrees. Michael’s daughter, Paris, who declined to speak to The Post, stated on social media that she had provided “notes about what was dishonest” in an early draft of the script that were not taken into account. (Lionsgate declined to comment on the development process.)
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“They’re going to do what they have to do,” Paris said on Instagram. «One of the main reasons why I haven’t said anything until now is because I know many of you are going to like it. An important part of the movie pleases a very specific sector of my father’s fans who still live in fantasy, and they are going to like it.