{"id":686113,"date":"2026-05-21T23:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/686113\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T23:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:21:08","slug":"michael-sequel-update-given-by-lionsgate-film-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/686113\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Michael’ Sequel Update Given by Lionsgate Film Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cMichael<\/a>,\u201d the smash hit biopic, makes it clear that moviegoers haven\u2019t seen the last of Michael Jackson, with the film ending with the words, \u201cHis Story Continues.\u201d And Lionsgate<\/a>, the studio behind the film, told investors and analysts on a quarterly earnings call on Thursday that it is hard at work on a sequel. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are really excited about the progress we\u2019re making with respect to a second \u2018Michael\u2019 film,\u201d Adam Fogelson, the company\u2019s film chief, said. \u201cAll the conversations that we\u2019ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first \u201cMichael\u201d wraps up with the King of Pop in the middle of 1987\u2019s \u201cBad\u201d tour. That leaves several decades of material \u2014 from successes such as \u201cDangerous\u201d to controversies like the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse that dogged Jackson for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI would say that there is a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson story, and much of the biggest and most popular parts of his music catalog that were not touched upon in the first film,\u201d Fogelson added. \u201cThere are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie that weren\u2019t touched upon, so we\u2019re very, very confident that we\u2019ve got an incredibly entertaining movie that will appeal once again to a global audience as the pieces come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe also noted that things might not be chronological. \u201cWe can go forwards and backwards in telling this story,\u201d Fogelson teased. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMichael\u201d may be a massive box office hit, but its production was chaotic. The film was supposed to explore the impact of the molestation allegations on Jackson\u2019s life, with much of its third act devoted to the scandal. But those plans had to be scrapped<\/a>, along with any mention of the accusations, after attorneys for the Jackson estate, which served as a producer, realized there was a clause in a settlement with one of the singer\u2019s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie. It\u2019s unclear how any follow-up film would deal with that period of Jackson\u2019s life without running afoul of the terms of that settlement.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, Fogelson said that some of the material that was cut could be used in a sequel, which would potentially lower costs on the film. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe think we\u2019ve got 25 to 30% of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity, and so obviously that will have some [financial] benefit ultimately, but we\u2019re going to make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again,\u201d Fogelson said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMichael\u201d carried a production budget of more than $155 million. It has grossed more than $700 million at the box office, making it one of the biggest hits of 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMichael,\u201d the smash hit biopic, makes it clear that moviegoers haven\u2019t seen the last of Michael Jackson, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,18030,19927,344],"class_list":["post-686113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-lionsgate","tag-michael","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}