A year ago at CinemaCon, Lionsgate closed out its Las Vegas presentation with a surprise, lengthy look at Michael, with the footage that wowed turning the Caesar’s Palace Coliseum into a concert-like atmosphere and getting a strong response. Producer Graham King revealed that the Michael Jackson biopic would include 30 songs and have a lengthy run time in order to do justice to the late pop star’s story.
Now, King and his fellow filmmakers are mulling a new reality for the project, where the superstar’s onscreen story can be further expanded across two features. But it’s a plan that is in very early stages, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
The news about the potential two-part Jackson movies comes after rumors of trouble on the production, as outlined in a Puck report in January. The report noted the film’s third act needed to be reworked, as it featured a dramatization of a Jackson accuser, who had a past settlement with the estate guaranteeing he would never be featured in a dramatization. (According to Puck, the estate had overlooked this deal when signing off on the movie, which it is backing.) By possibly splitting the movie in to two, it could allow the filmmakers some breathing space to fix this issue.
King is said to be championing this option. Still, moving from one film to two would require the sign-off from multiple partners, including the Jackson estate, along with Lionsgate, which is releasing the film domestically, and Universal, which is releasing the film internationally. While the plan is still in nascent stages, the film’s Oct. 3 release date would likely be pushed to allow reworking for the new format.
Lionsgate and King did not respond to requests for comment.
Antoine Fuqua directs Michael which stars the nephew of the late pop superstar, Jaafar Jackson. Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo round out the cast. Fuqua helms from a script by John Logan for the project that counts King, John Branca and John McClain as producers. The project already moved back by six months from its previously planned release in April 2025 to October.
At this year’s CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday afternoon, Lionsgate did not show footage from the movie, and a release date was not mentioned when motion picture group head Adam Fogelson talked about the project.
“Ever since we debuted some early Michael footage at CinemaCon last year, it’s been crystal clear how much global interest and enthusiasm there is,” Fogelson said from the Las Vegas stage. “Much has happened since, and while we aren’t quite ready to share more, we’re going to have some very big and exciting things to say in the coming weeks. So be patient, and stay tuned.”