This movie will not be controversial at all.
Deadline has the scoop that Antoine Fuqua is set to direct “Michael”, a Lionsgate drama telling the life story of the iconic Michael Jackson. The Jackson estate has given full approval for this to happen.
The screenplay will be penned by John Logan, which has been a decade-long passion project for him. Logan had previously penned Scott’s “Gladiator,” Scorsese’s “The Aviator” Burton’s “Sweeney Todd,” and Mendes’ “Skyfall”, so the film is in good hands.
On the other hand, Fuqua hasn’t proven, to me at least, that he’s a worthy enough filmmaker to depict Jackson’s batshit crazy life. He botched “Emancipation” and really, the only good film he’s made is “Training Day,” which, let’s be honest here, worked because of Denzel Washington’s magnetic performance.
Deadline adds these peculiar details to their article:
But it will also deal squarely with the pedophile accusations that dogged his later years up to his death in 2009 at age 50, from cardiac arrest caused by a cocktail of sedatives.
What do they mean by “dealing squarely”? Fuqua and Logan will no doubt be scurrying through landmines depicting the latter half of Jackson’s life. The Jackson family giving firm approval for this film to happen means that this will no doubt be a biased depiction of the singer’s controversies.
Don’t get me wrong, I never truly bought the accusations that Jackson was a pedophile. There was that embarrassing HBO doc titled “Leaving Neverland” from just a few years ago that eventually turned out to have its two central accusers outed as liars.
When “Michael” comes out, the discussion will not be completely calm or rational, it’ll be chaotic. I imagine film critics won’t be too happy to learn that the Jackson estate is behind this movie. Fuqua’s film will inevitably be slammed for that very reason. I don’t think it matters though, audiences will most likely come out in droves to watch this movie, despite the inevitable controversies that will arise around its release.
Beyond the accusations, how will the film deal with Jackson’s skin colour change? A black actor will surely be cast, but can you imagine the kind of hellish ordeal the makeup artist will have to go through as Jackson’s skin pigmentation continuously turns whiter and whiter as the years go on? How many different people are they going to be needed to play Jackson?
There were too many outlandishly crazy dramatic moments in Jackson’s life, and one has to wonder how much Fuqua will be able to fit into this epic-scaled movie. Jackson’s on-screen depiction would probably need the bombast of Fellini’s “Amarcord” to truly work.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.