Leaving music to do films?

Hudson112

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
135
Points
28
Do you think Michael would have left music to do films as he seemed to be so dead set on at the end of his life? There were notes in his room saying that he would not have signed the AEG contract if it did not include making films. “No films, no immortalisation.” Or do you think he was expecting too much of himself? Would he have truly abandoned his natural calling or would he have branched out?
 
Tbh I'm pretty glad Michael decided to perform more in the 90s than he said he would because after 93, I doubt he would be casted for any film. I would think that he got lucky to even have a cameo in MIB II. Harsh but possibly true. It's a shame because he was also a good actor who I believe should have had more opportunities in the movie industry
 
I'm pretty sure Michael would have never left music. It was his passion and a part of his soul. Of course, he loved acting and was looking to improve his career as an actor, but completely disconnecting himself from the music world seems too much for me.
 
I don't think he would have been an actor.

Producing and directing films maybe - but I can only imagine MJ behind the cemera.
 
Michael Jackson, in one of his latest interviews, described films as the most artistic, influential medium of all.

So, had he not died, he would have certainly continued to be involved in the film industry.

He also revealed in another interview that he was keen on writing original music that would accompany certain films (film score/soundtrack), a statement which showed that he was no longer interested in acting, but in the musical aspect of a film.

Also, during his final years, Michael Jackson was losing interest in creating and recording new music for new albums because he was still being haunted by the utter disaster of his latest ‘Invincible’ album.
 
Considering that the Invincible album is Michael's fastest-selling album ever, I think it's very unfair to call it a disaster. About his interest in producing new music during his final years, Bill Whitfield said that Michael was always working on new songs even towards the end of his life.
 
I don't really think we understand how much michael wanted to be an actor and produce films. Michael was always, and i mean always attached to various movies but almost always had to back out of them because of his commitment to his music, tours, rehearsals, studio time, etc. He never really had the opportunity to go all in with movies except for the The Wiz.
 
Michael was always, and i mean always attached to various movies but almost always had to back out of them because of his commitment to his music, tours, rehearsals, studio time, etc. He never really had the opportunity to go all in with movies except for the The Wiz.

Of course, he loved acting and was looking to improve his career as an actor, but completely disconnecting himself from the music world seems too much for me.

It's a shame because he was also a good actor who I believe should have had more opportunities in the movie industry

agreed.
 
Themidwestcowboy;4304676 said:
I don't really think we understand how much michael wanted to be an actor and produce films. Michael was always, and i mean always attached to various movies but almost always had to back out of them because of his commitment to his music, tours, rehearsals, studio time, etc. He never really had the opportunity to go all in with movies except for the The Wiz.

I don't think that was the reason. He wanted to get into movies / the movie business so badly, that he probably would have adjusted his music shedules around it.

Him trying to get into the film business is a whole complex story that got him into a lot of trouble. The small club of powerful Hollywood people never took him serious, so all the projects he got offered or started working on never went anywhere. This was even before the 1993 accusations.

There are some lengthy but very interesting articles about his late 80s~early 90s movie projects and what went on behind scenes here:
https://vindicatemj.wordpress.com/category/project-m-for-michael-jackson/
(start reading the articles from bottom up)

As Taj Jackson told it several times, Michael was mostly talking about MAKING / directing movies in the later years.



mj_frenzy;4304668 said:
Also, during his final years, Michael Jackson was losing interest in creating and recording new music for new albums because he was still being haunted by the utter disaster of his latest ‘Invincible’ album.

Also, it's only your interpretation that you're trying to sell as fact.

In fact we all know that he continued to create and record new music up until his final days. An album-long list of songs he wanted to finish was found in his room. There was some sort of report that he rather wanted to release singles instead of a new album (along the This Is It concerts)... but that alone would not have made much sense commercially. Regarding releases, albums are always where the money is. That's also why Sony stretched the BOTDF EP into album format.

The Invincible "disaster" had its specific reasons at the time, which he surely was aware of. (Formostly the trouble with Sony, and then also 9/11, his health at the time, 3 small kids to raise etc.) So if things had changed to the "better" at a later point, noone knows what he would have done. Movies aside, I think if he was still alive, we would have at least one more pop album by now.
 
Last edited:
I think one the reason why it was hard for him to be in a movie was the fact he was michael jackson. someone said and i agree that if michael played in a movie people will see him as michael jackson not the character he was suppose to play and i agree.

michael was the biggest superstar on earth. people would only see him as that which is kind of sad but makes alot sense.
 
I doubt that MJ would abandon making music to do films. He was always making music. Even in his final days he was working with will.i.am and Akon along with many others on his new album. That being said, he could easily have done both music and film! Lady Gaga is perhaps the most contemporary example of this. Besides, MJ had been involved in filmmaking and acting his whole life anyway. He was always looking for new innovations in video and applying them to his art.

His film legacy includes all his music videos (short films ;)) and also: The Wiz, Captain EO, Moonwalker, Ghosts, Men in Black II, and Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls (the quality of the last one is questionable :rollin:). I think his ability to branch out into filmmaking was undisputed. It just upsets me that he never did get that opportunity after his AEG shows.
 
I think Michael wanted to be in the movies (acting first, directing later) from very early on. I think as someone else said in this thread he wanted it more than any of us could imagine, at least from the 90s onwards - after he'd scaled the music industry peaks and achieved most of what he set out to in that biz. His next phase - he wanted it to be about establishing a lasting entertainer legacy that made him the greatest singer, dancer, actor, director. I think vitiligo really put paid to his actor dreams. I strongly believe, post his trial, he wanted to only do movies. He didn't have the strength to tour - he wanted to release singles once in a while and make movies his full focus. I think Michael Prince said that on MJCast and it makes sense. I's too bad he didn't get to realize that pat of his dream.
 
Back
Top