Michael Jackson Biopic MICHAEL Could Be Split into Two Parts; Release Date Still in Flux

It’s being reported that Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic titled Michael, from Lionsgate, could be split into two movies. The feature is currently clocking in at a near four-hour cut, so the studio is talking about their options on the table, and a decision has not been made at this time.

It could be argued that Jackson’s life, from Gary, Indiana, to the Jackson 5, Off the Wall to Thriller, and to the rest of his interesting and ultimately tragic life, it’s an epic story worthy of a two parts, similar to the current hit split feature, Wicked.

The film had been set for an October release date, but with the current adjustments, it looks like that release will be altered.

Lionsgate didn’t show footage for the John Logan-scripted film, Michael this week at CinemaCon as planned, since all these decisions are up in the air for the film, which stars Jackson’s nephew and Jermaine Jackson’s son Jaafar Jackson in the title role. Coleman Domingo plays Joe Jackson, and Nia Long is Katherine Jackson. Miles Teller is Jackson attorney John Branca. A group of eight actors — four younger, four older — have been set to play Michael’s brothers Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie: Jayden Harville and Jamal R. Henderson (Jermaine), Jaylen Lyndon Hunter and Tre Horton (Marlon), Judah Edwards and Rhyan Hill (Tito) and Nathaniel Logan McIntyre and Joseph David-Jones (Jackie).

Another factor in the delay surrounding Michael is the legal and contractual issues around the narrative of the molestation accusations leveled against the Thriller star in the early 1990s by the family of then 13-year-old Jordan Chandler (Jackson in 1994 paid the family $20 million with no admission of guilt).

The Jackson estate explicitly wanted nothing about Chandler in the film, so fact that the allegations do appear has led to a fierce internal dispute and extensive reshoots, Deadline has confirmed.

Jackson infamously stood trial in 2005 on another claim of molestation and was acquitted of all charges. However, the public case also saw the near complete withdrawal of the King of Pop from the public sphere in the final four years of his life.

Stay tuned for updates as the film(s) move(s) forward.