As expected, Lionsgate has decided to delay its long-in-the-works Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” to April 24, 2026 global theatrical release.
“Michael” just completed a hefty 22-days of reshoots. This wasn’t just the usual patch-up job, but rather more of an expansion effort, with the project reportedly evolving from one film into two.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson (Michael’s real-life nephew) as the King of Pop, the biopic also features Colman Domingo, Nia Long, and Miles Teller. Lionsgate and Universal are backing the film alongside the Jackson Estate, which has had its own behind-the-scenes drama to contend with.
A key issue? Legal complications around a dramatized portrayal of one of Jackson’s accusers, who had previously reached a settlement with the estate barring his depiction in any dramatization. That snag forced a rethink of the movie’s original third act — which is now on ice. A revised script for the second film had to be written up.
Fuqua had already amassed nearly four hours of footage by that point, including 90 minutes of concert footage. Suffice to say, ‘Michael’ has delayed Fuqua’s original plan to shoot his Hannibal the Conquerer film, starring Denzel Washington, and produced by Netflix.
Meanwhile, not a single frame of “Michael”has been seen, nothing was shown at this year’s CinemaCon—an odd choice for a project with a $155M budget, not counting reshoots. Principal photography wrapped back in May 2024.
Word is that Fuqua needs to conduct a second round of reshoots in the fall, for the second film, which is still undated, and will very likely be released in 2027.
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.