‘Michael’ sequel likely to begin shooting in the near future, Lionsgate boss confirms
Despite a huge wave of criticism, a sequel to the record-breaking Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, is in development and could begin shooting either this year or next year.
In the movie, the singer’s nephew Jaafar Jackson takes on the role of the ‘King of Pop’, leading to a massive $217 million worldwide over its opening weekend.
However, the film has faced an onslaught of negative reviews and production controversies, most notably because the child abuse allegations were wiped from the latter third of the movie in light of new legal information.
As a result, Jackson’s estate paid an alleged $15 million for reshoots that delayed the movie’s release.
Notably, Michael concludes in 1988, five years before the first sexual abuse allegation was made against the singer by Evan Chandler, who accused the star of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son.
However, on the podcast The Town With Matt Belloni, the Head of Lionsgate has now shared that the film’s sequel, which will likely touch on those years, could be shooting this year or next.
Fogelson shared, “There is a massive amount of music… and life experiences separate and apart from allegations… that would fill more than a second movie on its own.” He gestured to the landmark 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance as an example.
However, Michael director, Antoine Fuqua, is already committed to a Denzel Washington and Netflix collaboration in the near future. As such, Fogelson has admitted that the team “haven’t yet gotten to the moment where we have to solve for anything”.
Fogelson touched upon whether the sequel might address the allegations that were wiped clear from the first film, sharing, “It’s a really complicated question, and I’m not sure I think that I am the best person or now is the best time.”
Another dissenter of the movie, Leaving Neverland’s director Dan Reed, also criticised the release, claiming that Jackson was supposedly “worse than Jeffrey Epstein”.
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