film / tv / celeb / substack / news / social media / pajiba love / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / news / celeb

The Michael Jackson Movie Is Unraveling

By Dustin Rowles | News | January 24, 2025 |

jackson-m.jpg
Header Image Source: Getty Images

For those who weren’t aware, there’s a $150 million Michael Jackson movie in production starring Colman Domingo, Miles Teller, Derek Luke, and Jaafar Jackson (Michael’s nephew) as the King of Pop himself. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and written by John Logan (Skyfall, The Aviator), this isn’t some Lifetime movie—it’s a big-budget biopic with the potential to thrive both at the box office and during awards season.

But there’s one big issue: the project is falling apart, according to Puck’s Matthew Belloni.

The central question for any Michael Jackson biopic is whether it should address the child sex abuse allegations Jackson faced. Ignoring them would be disingenuous, as they cast a shadow over the last decade of his career. However, confronting them head-on could make the movie a tough sell.

Screenwriter John Logan, working with the Michael Jackson estate, reportedly decided to tackle the allegations and use the film to refute them. The third act was set to focus on the accusations made by the Chandler family, whose 13-year-old son, Jordan, was the first to accuse Jackson. Jackson settled with the family for $23 million, but the movie nevertheless was apparently going to challenge the Chandlers’ credibility and poke holes in their account.

This third act, considered the “backbone” of the film, was shot, and the movie — initially slated for an April release — had moved into post-production. However, according to Puck, the release has been pushed to October for a major reason: a clause in the settlement agreement, overlooked by everyone, prohibits the Jacksons from dramatizing the Chandler family or their story. Oops.

Now, with that key third act scrapped, the team is revising the script and planning reshoots. But whether the studio will approve these changes or continue with the film remains unclear.

Personally, while I wouldn’t trust a Michael Jackson film written with the estate’s approval, I’d still love to see an honest biopic about him. He’s undeniably one of the greatest musicians and performers of all time, but his life was riddled with chaos and tragedy. From his abusive childhood (with Colman Domingo playing his father, Joe Jackson) to the sexual abuse allegations in his later years and his tragic death from an overdose at 50, there’s a complicated history to explore.

Source: Puck