Michael Jackson Biopic To Film Once SAG-AFTRA Strike Is Over, Universal Lands International Distribution Rights
Director Antoine Fuqua is zeroing in on his next film after Emancipation and The Equalizer 3. The Training Day director will direct a Michael Jackson biopic for Lionsgate next, and according to TheWrap, will start filming once the actors’ strike is over.
Titled Michael, the film will star Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson as the late music icon, his first acting job ever according to IMDb. Of course, Jaafar Jackson’s involvement seems to cast a shade over the whole project and whether or not it will go all the way to address the many controversies that surrounded the singer’s life before and after he passed away in 2009. Lionsgate insists that they will be addressing all aspects of his life, though, even if they didn’t disclose how.
Universal Pictures will be handling the international distribution rights, with the exception of Japan. Lionsgate will distribute in North America. Graham King, who produced the $900M+ phenomenon Bohemian Rhapsody, along with John Branca and John McClain, the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate, will be producing the project, which hails from a script by Gladiator co-writer John Logan. Joe Drake, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter celebrating their partnership with Universal:
“Michael’s decades-long career left an indelible mark on the way audiences experience entertainment all over the world. We are thrilled to be partnering with our friends at Universal to give global audiences new insight into the complex life of one of the most prolific artists the world has ever known.”
No release date has been set for the Michael Jackson biopic, but a late 2024 date should be in the cards.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
