RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Cameras could start rolling on the sequel to the box office smash Michael Jackson biopic Michael as soon as the end of this year. According to Variety , on an earnings calls on Thursday, Lionsgate motion picture boss Adam Fogelson said the studio hopes to start production on the second part of the film in late 2026 or early 2027, with plans to release the second part at the end of 2027 or in early 2028.
The studio initially held off on green-lighting the sequel to the film that became a worldwide sensation after its release this spring, pulling in more than $1.016 billion to date and leapfrogging the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ($911 million) to become the top-grossing musician biopic of all time. The pause in confirming a part two came despite the first part of the film ending with the seemingly sequel-setup phrase “His Story Continues” during the end credits.
The Antoine Fuqua-directed film chronicles Jackson’s rise to global superstardom as part of his family band the Jackson 5, through his breakout solo success that made him the biggest pop star on the planet. Starring Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the title role, the movie fades to black after the end of the 1987 tour in support of Bad , just before Jackson’s life was sent into turmoil by a series of child sexual abuse allegations that dogged the singer until his death in 2009 at age 50.
At this point, Lionsgate has not revealed what will be included in the second part of the film. While scenes tied to some of the abuse controversy were reportedly filmed during the first shoot, a last-minute legal dispute forced producers to cut scenes chronicling child molestation allegations when the Jackson estate realized a clause in one of the settlements with accuser Jordan Chandler blocked them from addressing those claims in the film.
The 11th hour discovery reportedly resulted in costly $50 million reshoots that delayed the movie’s release. In Thursday’s call, however, Fogelson made it sound like some of that material shot for the first film could be revisited in the next go-round. “We have a number of sequences, particularly some big musical sequences, that were shot previously, that are almost sure to be incorporated,” Fogelson said. “We are mostly focused right now on how to make sure we can deliver, at the right price, the biggest, best sequel. That is what the audience is going to want and deserve after the experience we gave them the first time.” He confirmed that the sequel will be able to use some previously shot material.
Fuqua discussed the reshoots with Deadline earlier this year, explaining that the news about the reshoots came after he’d handed in his director’s cut. “ That was a tough day ,” he said, noting that the first film naturally appears to set up a sequel that takes on the allegations leveled against Jackson by Chandler and other accusers. Jackson vehemently denied any allegations of sexual impropriety and was never convicted or held legally liable in any of the lawsuits against him in his lifetime or in the years since.
The director previously told The New Yorker that the first movie opened with the infamous 1993 police raid on Jackson’s Neverland Ranch home following molestation allegations of abuse by 13-year-old Chandler. Jackson later settled a civil lawsuit from Chandler’s family for a reported $25 million, after which Chandler stopped cooperating with prosecutors. Jackson was acquitted of other child molestation charges in 2005 and in the years since his estate has denied those and other abuse claims against the singer.
Asked if not addressing the abuse allegations in the first film had bothered him, Fuqua said, “It definitely did for a while, because we had to rethink everything. That was a tough period. [producer] Graham King, [screenwriter] John Logan and I banged our heads around. We had a lot of meetings. But we clicked into it at the same time: The movie is called Michael so you have to focus on Michael. Unless you can truly take your time, let’s go back to the beginning and really show people who he was on the stage. He’s a superhero on the stage. Just like a human being, movies have the power of empathy to just say this is a human being. No one is perfect. It was important to take the audience through a process of how do you get to wherever it’s going to go in a second movie; for people to get a bigger idea of his personality and what shaped him.”
Fuqua also noted that there was already quite a bit of footage that could be use in a sequel, noting that the production “went pretty far” into Jackson’s later years. “We went through the Jordan allegations we couldn’t use. We went farther than that. Maybe a year or two after that (1995) when things turned against Michael,” he said. While Fogelson didn’t confirm that Fuqua will be behind the camera again, the director said he would definitely like the honor if the timing works out. “It would kill me if somebody else did it,” he said.
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