Michael Jackson’s biopic has come under heavy fire for not including the sexual abuse allegations against him. However, there is a legal reason behind that.
Jaafar Jackson plays Michael Jackson in Michael.
The criticism against Michael
Starring Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, Michael chronicles the pop star’s life from the 1960s to 80s, charting his rise as a star as part of the Jackson 5 to solo stardom after Off The Wall and Thriller, his breakthrough albums in the late 70s and early 80s. While the film shows his troubled relationship with his father as well as the infamous accident he suffered on an ad shoot set in 83, there is no reference to the sexual abuse allegations.
Starting in the early 90s, Michael Jackson faced numerous allegations of sexual abuse by minors, many of whom lived with the singer at his Neverland Ranch. Critics have pointed out that this amounts to sanitisation of the singer’s image, particularly since the biopic is sanctioned and bankrolled by his estate and family.
The error from Michael Jackson estate
A report by the Associated Press states that director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King wanted to include the allegations in the film, but the plan was halted due to an error by the Jackson estate. An old agreement the estate made with a plaintiff prevented those claims from being used for commercial purposes. This was discovered after the portion had been shot, leading to a ton of reshoots.
After that discovery, Lionsgate had to reshoot much of the film at a cost of millions more dollars, according to people familiar with the matter. That ballooned the budget to roughly $200 million.
Is there a sequel?
Michael ends with a recreation of the singer’s iconic performance of Bad during the 1988 tour. A text reads: “His story continues”. This has led to speculation that a sequel is in the works. The makers have now confirmed that there is more in the offing, and a sequel will target a 2027 release if Michael performs well at the box office. Adam Fogelson, the chairman of Lionsgate’s film studio, said, “The filmmakers want to make it clear that there is much more story to tell and the audience is going to guide us on their appetite for it. A lot of his great music catalogue is not represented in this film, as well as a whole host of other moments and events of consequence.”
The sequel is likely to focus on the scandals and cases the pop star faced in the 90s, as well as his dependency on pain medication following his accident. How the film will deal with it without including the sexual abuse cases will be tricky. Michael Jackson died in June 2009 at the age of 50 from an overdose of the anaesthetic drug propofol, weeks before he was due to stage a series of concerts.
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More
