{"id":121325,"date":"2025-11-06T16:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/121325\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T16:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:19:07","slug":"michael-first-trailer-unveiled-for-controversial-michael-jackson-biopic-biopics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/121325\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael: first trailer unveiled for controversial Michael Jackson biopic | Biopics"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first trailer for the Michael Jackson<\/a> biopic<\/a> has landed online after reports of a troubled production.<\/p>\n

Filming on Michael had been completed in May 2024 and the film had originally been scheduled for release in April 2025, a date that was then pushed to October, but reshoots were needed in the June, pushing it once again, to April 2026.<\/p>\n

There were then further reports that the film was being split into two parts, but the first trailer now suggests that it\u2019s being released as one movie.<\/p>\n

The film comes from director Antoine Fuqua, a film-maker more associated with action and thriller titles including Training Day<\/a>, The Equalizer<\/a> and Olympus Has Fallen<\/a>. The script is from John Logan, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Gladiator, The Aviator and Hugo.<\/p>\n

The central role will be played by Jaafar Jackson, the singer\u2019s real-life nephew, while Oscar nominee Colman Domingo<\/a> will play Joe Jackson and other roles filled in by actors including Miles Teller<\/a>, Nia Long and Laura Harrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael\u2019s life was complicated,\u201d British producer Graham King said about the project. \u201cAs a film-maker, I look to humanise but not sanitise and present the most compelling, unbiased story I can capture in a single feature film and let the audience decide how they feel after watching it. Michael clearly remains an impactful, culturally relevant artist with a life and legacy worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allegations of sexual assault against Jackson were resurfaced in Dan Reed\u2019s 2019 docuseries Leaving Neverland<\/a>, which included interviews with two accusers who claimed he had abused them as children. Reed reportedly<\/a> read a draft of the Michael script and called it \u201cstartlingly disingenuous\u201d after it allegedly discredited both accusers.<\/p>\n

\u201cJackson is only ever seen caring for children with childhood cancer, or dancing with a little girl in a wheelchair, or tucking up multiple little boys, mostly his nephews, at sleepovers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year Domingo spoke about the Jackson family and their embrace of the project at an event in Venice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very much in support of our film,\u201d Domingo said<\/a> of Jackson\u2019s children Paris and Prince. \u201cI\u2019m excited to be here at amfAR tonight with Paris. It feels like that\u2019s a nice way for us to be together.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Paris quickly denied<\/a> any involvement on Instagram, writing: \u201cDon\u2019t be telling people I was \u2018helpful\u2019 on the set of a movie I had zero percent involvement in lol that is so weird. I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest\/didn\u2019t sit right with me and when they didn\u2019t address it I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys not my circus. God bless and god speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cA big reason why I haven\u2019t said anything up until this point is because I know a lot of you guys are gonna be happy with it. A big section, the film panders to a very specific section of my dad\u2019s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they\u2019re gonna be happy with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael carries a reported budget of $155m and comes out in the wake of disappointing box office returns for this year\u2019s Bruce Springsteen biopic<\/a>, which has only made $31m since its release last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first trailer for the Michael Jackson biopic has landed online after reports of a troubled production. Filming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-121325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}