It is the most controversial film of the year. No, not Wuthering Heights, with its wild accents and moors, but Michael, the biopic of Michael Jackson, which has been through years of delay to finally open in cinemas this month. The King of Pop is, of course, a tarnished man, who died of a drug overdose in 2009, aged 50, after being dogged for decades by allegations of sexual abuse against children. The film had its world premiere last week in Berlin and, as early reactions flooded in, surely the studio execs would have been nervous about the public reaction to a film about such a divisive icon?
“Michael is why we go to the movies!” gushed one adoring fan, who clearly thought they had seen a thriller. “One of the best biopics I’ve ever seen!” whooped another, who believed that nothing could beat it. “This is the movie we wanted!”
Now a caveat. Reviews by critics are embargoed until Tuesday, April 21. These are the clickbait cries of some showboating influencers who are invited to exclusive previews and would very much like to keep being invited to such things. They are there to be nice but, make no mistake, such overwhelmingly positive reactions will be the norm when the world rushes to Michael. In the States the film is set to make well over $80 million in its opening weekend before becoming the first music biopic to break a billion globally, as Jackson’s Spotify numbers grow and everyone forgets about Jordan Chandler, Gavin Arvizo, Wade Robson and James Safechuck — men who accused Jackson of molestation when they were children.
And, yes, Jackson was never found guilty in court. Although he did like making an out-of-court settlement. Either way, the incoming exuberance will feel extraordinary to some. This year I spoke to Dan Reed, who directed 2019’s powerhouse documentary Leaving Neverland, which delved into claims made against the singer by Robson and Safechuck. “The baseline,” Reed told me, “is that Jackson spent nights alone with kids.” This has never been refuted by Jackson’s estate. “It seems likely, on evidence, that he had sex with them but let us say you don’t believe that — what was never denied is that he spent nights behind closed doors with lots of little boys who were not his. Is that OK?”
Members of the Jackson family — from left: Michael’s sons, Bigi and Prince Michael Jr, his brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Jermaine’s son, Jermajesty and Randy Jr at the world premiere in Berlin this monthCLEMENS BILAN/EPA/Shutterstock
Not surprisingly, Michael — the $150 million jukebox musical blockbuster that has been billed by producers as the ultimate family entertainment — does not deal with any of this. Indeed one insider says that the film ends before any of the difficulties, with one scene showing Jackson buying flowers for ill kids in hospital. What a guy!
In an early version, the film dealt, somehow, with the story of Chandler before lawyers realised that the $23 million deal struck with that accuser in 1994 banned the use of his story in any Jackson biopic. Reshoots happened and delays occurred, the elephant in the room not so much ignored but removed completely.
So Michael is like a Gary Glitter biopic that focuses purely on the writing of Hello, Hello I’m Back Again or a film about Kanye West that doesn’t mention Nazis. And it seems that some of the family are not delighted. The singer’s sister Janet, for instance, is not in the film at all and was not at the premiere.
Jackson’s 28-year-old daughter Paris, whom he had with his second wife, Debbie Rowe, has been outspoken in her disapproval. An eminently sensible-seeming young woman with a Radiohead tattoo, she said of the film: “I just prefer honesty over sales and monetary gain… I had 0 per cent involvement in [the film]… The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in a fantasy. It’s not real. But it’s sold to you as real.”
Jackson dangled his son Blanket over a balcony in Berlin in 2002Shutterstock Editorial
She and Janet, though, are lonely voices of disapproval. Last week in Berlin, the city where Jackson dangled his nine-month-old son Blanket out of a hotel window in 2002, the Jackson clan were out in full force. Even Blanket was back — albeit now called Bigi — to stand next to his brother Prince and their uncles Jackie, Marlon and Jermaine, all previous members of the Jackson Five. On the red carpet Jermaine was asked about Paris’s reaction to her father’s film, and said: “I stay away from controversial stuff.”
Essentially, the gamble — ignore the allegations of paedophilia, just hope people remember how great Man in the Mirror is — looks set to pay off handsomely. There is a rumoured sequel in the works but nothing suggests that that will do anything but have the possible effect of further exonerating its subject. After all, the man playing Jackson in the film is his nephew, Jaafar Jackson. This is an inside job, the sole aim of which appears to be to increase the next generation’s interest in some fantastic pop songs and rack up royalties for the estate. That was the trick pulled off with Bohemian Rhapsody, a film that not coincidentally shares a producer, Graham King, with Michael.
Resistance to its success is futile. A couple of weeks ago Jaafar was on Jimmy Fallon’s talk show, where the studio audience whooped as a sycophantic Fallon praised his guest and the uncle he plays. “Come on now!” a palpitating Fallon screams after showing a remarkably mediocre clip of Billie Jean from the film, with a look at comments underneath this “interview” capturing the mood for the majority. “It’s amazing how excited everybody gets just by speaking about Michael — his magic is eternal,” said one. “1.1m views in under 24 hours — shows how big this film is going to be,” goes another. “Treat him better than you treated all the Jacksons,” reads a final one, about Jaafar, before adding: “Hollywood owes the family the biggest apology. Michael died an innocent man.”
Michael is released on Apr 22 in the UK and Apr 24 in the US