On April 24th, the long-awaited and highly anticipated Michael will be released into theaters. The film tells the story of the King of Pop and his rise to fame and becoming a global superstar. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who is best known for directing, and stars Jackson’s real-life nephew Jafar in his acting debut. A Michael Jackson movie has always been on Hollywood’s mind, and after the success of Queen’s biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, it seemed like the perfect time to make the film. However, the film had an unusual production schedule that caused it to be delayed at least three times.
The film was officially announced in 2022, with Fuqua being set to direct and Jafar Jackson playing the King of Pop. Other major casting announcements included Coleman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Kathrine Jackson, Miles Teller as Michael’s manager, John Branca, and Juliano Valdi as young Michael. The film had hopes to start filming in the summer of 2023 with a release date of April 18, 2025. Production, however, was delayed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes that halted the entire entertainment industry. After the strikes ended in October of 2023, the film shortly got back on track, keeping its original release date and production going smoothly.
The first footage of the film was released for CinemaCon, a private film industry event where studios present their films to movie theater owners, journalists, and critics. John Campea, an entertainment journalist and critic, was invited to go and give his first impressions of the Michael sizzle reel that Lionsgate created.
“The stuff they showed us looked incredible,” Campea stated on his podcast.
Momentum for the film was increased when Variety reported that it could be released in two parts due to the massive amount of footage shot; however, this led to one of the biggest mistakes in Hollywood history.
The Jackson Estate needed to approve the film’s script before pre-production began, as they were very strict and wanted the potential Michael Jackson film to be perfect. In January of 2025, three months away from the film’s theatrical release, Indie Wire broke a story that the film would be going through massive reshoots and would be delayed due to a script issue. According to the article, the third act of the film would be centered around the controversies and accusations surrounding Jackson’s later life and career. Jordan Chandler, who at the time was 13 years old, accused Jackson of heinous acts and was set to be a big part of the third act of the film. A deal signed prior to shooting was made between the Jacksons and the Chandler family stating that in any film media about Jackson’s life, the Chandler name would not be part of it. John Branca, who oversees the Jackson estate, read the script and told Fuqua and Lionsgate that the script was good to go, overlooking the fact that Chandler’s name was mentioned in the script multiple times. The film was then delayed to October 2025 with hopes to release before the year ended, so that they could get into the awards season.
The film was then delayed again to April 24th, 2026, with this being set as the definitive release date.
It was then announced that the film would have a runtime of 2 hours and 10 minutes. According to an article from Deadline, when the trailer dropped in February, it broke the record for most views for a music biopic with a whopping 116 million views. This reinvigorated a spark back into the film, as after the reshoots, there was nothing that was heard about the film for months.
Michael now seems to be guaranteed a hit, with it being an almost surefire billion-dollar film. The love generations of people have for Michael Jackson make it one of the most anticipated films in 2026, with hopes of making it big in the 2027 awards season. The long battle of how this film got made is one of the most fascinating in recent Hollywood history and shows the perseverance of the team behind the film to create the best product that they can, with many unforeseen obstacles.
