Recommendations of the Editorial team
The film biography “Michael” grossed 83 million euros in the first weekend after its theatrical release alone. The Michael Jackson film thus broke all previous records for music biographies. The producers don’t want to rest on their laurels and are already planning a sequel – there would be enough material. Above all, it would be interesting to find out whether the estate will bring the abuse allegations against the singer to the screen. “Michael 1” ends in 1988, still far from any legal disputes.
“His Story Continues”
These final words appear on screen before “Michael,” the biopic about Michael Jackson’s life, ends. So is a sequel already on the way? The film focuses on Jackson’s childhood and rise to the height of his fame in the late ’80s.
The structure of the film was originally planned differently. For legal reasons, scenes from the court proceedings later in his life cannot be produced, so producer Graham King had to reshoot parts of the biography. One of the people who reported Jackson for sexual abuse is still not allowed to be depicted or mentioned in commercial projects. This legal restriction was discovered too late – King had to order a complete change to the third act, which resulted in 22 additional days of filming. The final version of “Michael” ends in 1988, at a Wembley performance on the “Bad” tour; the remaining 21 years of Jackson’s life remain untold.
Enough material for a second part
Lionsgate Chairman Adam Fogelson is convinced that there is enough content for a second “Michael” film: “Much of his most famous music was not used for the first film. There are so many other events, even during the time period in which the original film takes place, that were not covered. So we are very, very confident that we have an incredibly entertaining film that will again appeal to an international audience.” “Incredibly entertaining”: doesn’t sound like an analysis of the scandal.
It still remains to be seen which moments from the eventful life of the “King of Pop” a second film will depict. However, Fogelson emphasizes that the continuation does not necessarily have to be chronological – so there will potentially be jumps in the timeline.
