The iconic 1991 movie Madonna and Michael Jackson were both banned from starring in: “I laughed”
Obviously, there are certain parallels to be drawn between Michael Jackson and Madonna, not least of all because they earned their nicknames of the ‘King of Pop’ and ‘Queen of Pop’, respectively.
The pair are two of the most influential, iconic, and enduring presences in modern music; they’ve shifted millions of records, won almost every accolade under the sun, and inspired every generation that came after them, thanks to their innovative and unforgettable work in the studio, in their videos, and on stage.
One of the starkest differences between the two had nothing to do with the music industry, since Jackson seemed desperate to become a movie star and never followed through on those intentions, while Madonna embarked on what’s been scientifically proven as the worst acting career in cinema history.
Whereas Madge was racking up Razzies left and right for terrible performance after terrible performance, Jacko pitched himself as the X-Men’s Charles Xavier, The Phantom Menace‘s Jar-Jar Binks, Edward Scissorhands, and Willy Wonka, among others, but Hollywood didn’t fancy casting him in any of them.
However, both of the legendary figures threw their hat into the ring for the same role in the same movie, as bizarre as it sounds, only for them to both be rejected. In the late 1980s, Dodi Fayed, yes, that Dodi Fayed, acquired the rights to make a live-action Peter Pan film, which caught the eye of certain big names.
He ultimately sold those rights to TriStar Pictures, which cleared the runway for Steven Spielberg’s Hook, although he retained an executive producer’s credit on the beloved 1991 fantasy flick. The filmmaker had coincidentally considered turning the story into a musical with Jackson in the lead at the beginning of the ’80s, but he and Fayed were in agreement that he shouldn’t be anywhere near the role.
“When I was told Madonna wanted to be Peter Pan, I laughed,” Fayed said in 1988. “I just doubted whether anyone would know her in a few years. I wouldn’t use Michael Jackson now either, because I think there’s a real danger he won’t be popular in a few years.”
Fame and success in music and movies can often be fleeting, and yet, there’s something unintentionally hilarious about the producer suggesting that Madonna and Jackson would be over the hill and out of favour by the mid-1990s. After all, it’s 2026, and the latter is currently riding the crest of a newfound cultural wave after the release of Antoine Fuqua’s hagiographic biopic.
Everyone knows that the late ‘King of Pop’ was obsessed with Peter Pan for almost his entire life, but the idea of Madonna lobbying to play JM Barrie’s leader of the lost boys is an altogether more bizarre scenario, and it’s hard to imagine Hook becoming the ’90s-kid favourite it became with either of them heading up the cast.
