Scheduled to be released in October 2025, Michael is set to be a dazzling epic experience showing the life and music of the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson. While I have been a massive fan of Jackson's legendary music from a young age, there is no denying that he is a deeply polarising figure, as rumours about his private life and accusations of paedophilia have affected his reputation for decades. Since he died in 2009, the debate continues to be intense. A film about his life would have to touch upon these controversies in some way or another, and from what we've been told the third act of the biopic deals heavily with Jackson, played by his real-life nephew Jaafar, dealing with accusations made against him in 1993, and the subsequent toll the accusations had on his mental and physical wellbeing.
Whatever side you take in the debate, we have to agree that this subject matter makes for an interesting film. While I would love for a film about Michael Jackson to concentrate on his fantastic musicianship, we have to tackle this in some way especially since so much of his later music (in particular his 1995 album HIStory) deals directly with his personal frustrations at the accusations.
if simple mistakes made by the filmmakers can have such catastrophic events on the story they're telling, then things do not bode well for Michael
However, it seems that production has hit a roadblock due to a ridiculous oversight on behalf of those involved, as it's rumoured that the third act is having to be hastily reworked due to the team not having permission to dramatise the events. The Chandler family, who made the initial 1993 allegations against Jackson, supposedly signed a clause in the settlement agreement which forbade any future film about Jackson from featuring them or showing the events in any way. This was something that screenwriter John Logan was clearly not aware of when writing the script. In fact, the revelation only came once principal photography was completed.
While it is not 100% confirmed that this is the case, several news outlets have reported this as a reason for the film's delay - it was initially supposed to come out in April before being suddenly pushed to October without explanation. All representatives for the film have declined to comment, but if this is true then hinging the film's conclusion entirely on this time period without permission is a dramatically careless move on behalf of the filmmakers, and makes me really worried about the filmmakers' judgment regarding other aspects of Jackson's life and legacy. Several fans and critics have argued that making a film about Michael Jackson is an extremely difficult task, and if simple mistakes made by the filmmakers can have such catastrophic events on the story they're telling, then things do not bode well for Michael.
I'm still cautiously optimistic. I'm a massive Michael Jackson fan, I think Antoine Fuqua is a versatile and capable director, and I think Jaafar will do a great job in the role. However, this has all the potential to go down as an even more controversial biopic than 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody.