"Michael", a biopic about Michael Jackson, is officially happening.

[CodaBroda]

"Coming back to reshoot and do new scenes to make up for all the scenes that they had to cut out"
"Some of them reached out to clarify... they're just doing reshoots and then some new scenes to make up for all that lost footage."

That was one of my fears; bad enough to change the director's original vision, I also hope this doesn't relate to replacing/minimizing the coverage of the allegations... was really hoping these reshoots were just additional scenes to fill up a 2-film structure and/or runtime.

I’m revisiting this thought, and it could be possible that they need to film more scenes this summer to fill up a “Part 1” to be able to push the allegations to “Part 2”; the fact that they were recently shooting at Carolwood Dr. doesn’t necessarily support that, but it’s still possible if this is just one of the later scenes they needed for “Part 2”. (More copium…)

I’m speculating on speculation at this point, guess we’ll see

 

[SmoothGangsta]

Did you see the Queen biopic? Or the Elton John one? The Michael movie will be the "Michael Jackson" version of that. That's what the studio and the Estate want, and it's what the casual audience expects. Such movies are made to make massive amounts of money, which means delivering to the audience the product that it wants. Biopics are big-budget, "prestige" versions of the made-for-TV biographical films that used to get made.

Obviously I did yeah. This film was being marketed as the opposite of that up until this point.

 

[kreen]

Obviously I did yeah. This film was being marketed as the opposite of that up until this point.

The MJ Cirque du Soleil show is the basic Cirque template with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The MJ Broadway show is the basic musical Broadway play with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The movie will be the same. Endless product.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

The MJ Cirque du Soleil show is the basic Cirque template with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The MJ Broadway show is the basic musical Broadway play with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The movie will be the same. Endless product.

Thanks for bringing up 2 totally unrelated things that don't address what I said to prove your point. Anyway.

 

[CodaBroda]

The MJ Cirque du Soleil show is the basic Cirque template with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The MJ Broadway show is the basic musical Broadway play with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The movie will be the same. Endless product.

Good musical artist biopics can exist; I think we’re just having recency bias. The original direction of this film potentially made the investors uncomfortable enough to start removing scenes. There are signs that there were some real truth-telling and filmmaking happening beyond a musical fluff piece.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Good musical artist biopics can exist; I think we’re just having recency bias. The original direction of this film potentially made the investors uncomfortable enough to start removing scenes. There are signs that there were some real truth-telling and filmmaking happening beyond a musical fluff piece.

What source do we have on removing scenes?

 

[CodaBroda]

Jeff Sneider’s most recent interview; granted, we don’t know if the sources working on the production are really in the know, but we can mostly assume since it’s multiple sources within production. Presumably, the scenes about the allegations were removed if previous rumors are to be believed:

"Coming back to reshoot and do new scenes to make up for all the scenes that they had to cut out"
"Some of them reached out to clarify... they're just doing reshoots and then some new scenes to make up for all that lost footage."

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Jeff Sneider’s most recent interview; granted, we don’t know if the sources working on the production are really in the know, but we can mostly assume since it’s multiple sources within production. Presumably, the scenes about the allegations were removed if previous rumors are to be believed:

"Coming back to reshoot and do new scenes to make up for all the scenes that they had to cut out"
"Some of them reached out to clarify... they're just doing reshoots and then some new scenes to make up for all that lost footage."

In that case it sounds more like it might be a compelling alternative or a streamlining of ideas. No need to assume the worst, again...

 

[Masonh]

Guys, what third film are you talking about, lol?

Michael Prince already confirmed, that movie
probably will end before History. And director said, that movie will include first allegations case. So first movie certainly can't end BEFORE Dangerous.

So 1993-2009 events will definitely be covered in 2 movie, buts it's IMPOSSIBLE to split these events into 2 movies lol. Not enough plot for 3 part, comprende?

So speculation about trilogy is total absurd

 

[Billie Jean 78]

Guys, what third film are you talking about, lol?

Michael Prince already confirmed, that movie
probably will end before History. And director said, that movie will include first allegations case. So first movie certainly can't end BEFORE Dangerous.

So 1993-2009 events will definitely be covered in 2 movie, buts it's IMPOSSIBLE to split these events into 2 movies lol. Not enough plot for 3 part, comprende?

So speculation about trilogy is total absurd

Read more carefully inbetween the lines and you might see it was meant with irony.

 

[zinniabooklover]

[...] the fact that they were recently shooting at Carolwood Dr. doesn’t necessarily support that

Has that been confirmed, though? I mean, that the filming was definitely linked to the biopic? Bc the thing about those images from Carolwood Dr. is ... I didn't see loads of other stuff being posted about it. Last year, any time there was activity on location lots of different people would post (or re-post) the same stuff and would track whatever activity they could catch throughout the day.

When they filmed at Hayvenhurst last year people posted lots of stuff like this Film LA 'notice of filming' - and those notices usually get posted in advance of when the filming is going to start. I don't know why else there would be a film crew in that location (some people online are speculating it might be yet another doc but who knows?) but it just seemed weird to me that a film crew suddenly popped up and yet no-one found or posted this type of thing

I’m speculating on speculation at this point, guess we’ll see

I think I'm speculating on thin air atp but it still seems a bit weird to me, this whole Carolwood thing. Although it could just be resistance on my part. The idea of any filming in that location ...

 

[love1sfatal]

I don't think that Michael Prince comment should be considered the best source of info here since it was posted in May 2024 while at the same time Graham King, the producer himself said at CinemaCon they'd be covering the This Is It rehearsals. I think they always intended for the biopic to cover his whole life.

 

[Harun]

The „rumors“ was all true with the allegation Parts

 

[Hot_Street]

The „rumors“ was all true with the allegation Parts

It is unbelievable what a devastating impact these allegations still have three decades later.
I still hope that the film will finally bring the truth to light and that the whole world will learn about it.

 

[t1mber]

The „rumors“ was all true with the allegation Parts

No, it wasn't.

 

[Fuzball]

we also shouldn't forget about the spin-offs from the Michael Jackson Cinematic Universe.

"How Branca's helped MJ writing his hit songs"

"Branca: The Mastermind behind the Moonwalk"

 

[MJJuniorSinceMW]

Obviously I did yeah. This film was being marketed as the opposite of that up until this point.

Which film?

Because "MICHAEL", to the general audience, wasn't marketed AT ALL up until now.

 

[Harun]

is it so difficult to make an official announcement about where we currently stand guys Cmon we have may!!

 

[Masonh]

"How Branca's helped MJ writing his hit songs"

"Branca: The Mastermind behind the Moonwalk"

"How Rodney Jerkins visited Junkyard to create Invincible sounds"

 

[Masonh]

It is unbelievable what a devastating impact these allegations still have three decades later.
I still hope that the film will finally bring the truth to light and that the whole world will learn about it.

Guys, lets be realistic. Movie will not tell 100% truth about Michael Jackson. Because some of the truth of Michael's life people will never understand.

We already know, that probably morphine and demorol will be replaced with basic sleeping pills. And I bet they are not going explain, that Michael went through only nose surgeries due to lupus. They will just say about vitiligo and that Michael had plastic surgeries on his face due to father's abuse. There won't be specific information. And there probably won't be mentioning Michael, talking with mannequins, Michael, calling himself a lizard and Michael, showing Bigi from the balcony.

Remember, this movie is being created for casual average people. That's the main audience, it's not for fans.

 

[Blues_Away2023]

The MJ Cirque du Soleil show is the basic Cirque template with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The MJ Broadway show is the basic musical Broadway play with the "Michael Jackson" skin added.

The movie will be the same. Endless product.

This movie is for those who know thriller and billie Jean and very little else…it’s not for us sadly.

This ain’t gonna be some groundbreaking movie where we find out new revelations about Michael, it will be a Wikipedia special.

 

[etoile 37]

"How Rodney Jerkins visited Junkyard to create Invincible sounds"

Nah, it's gonna be: "How Branca sent Michael to send Rodney Jerkins to visit the junkyard to create Invincible sounds."

And there probably won't be mentioning Michael, talking with mannequins

Michael said he didn't talk to the mannequins, they just made him feel like he was in a room with people: "I suffered a lot in that way. I knew that something was wrong with me at that time. But I needed someone. . . That’s probably why I had the mannequins. I would say because I felt I needed people, someone, I didn’t have. . . I was too shy to be around real people. I didn’t talk to them. It wasn’t like old ladies talking to plants. But I always thought I wanted something to make me feel like I had company. I always thought, “Why do I have these?” They are like real babies, kids, and people, and it makes me feel like I am in a room with people."

 

[Absolute Goon]

I can't tell which is more dramatic this thread or the biopic community on reddit

No offense I feel like people think in absolutes when it comes to this biopic, you have the people that are coping and ignoring the fact that there is a huge possibilty of it being delayed/split by just saying "tabloid lies" even when very credible people like John Campea have confirmed that it is something Lionsgate is heavily considering.

Then the people who got disappointed by this possibility and have acted like this movies quality has dropped and its going to ignore everything that is essential to Michael lol

When we do get an update we will know for sure, yeah I admit my excitement is lower than before but thats mainly due to me accepting this year is not the year for the biopic, I'm still looking forward to the movie(s) whenever it comes out.

Its all about execution of the 2 part idea and the promo campaign for this movie that will dictate success and quality for this production

I read earlier in chat that people are disappointed that this biopic isn't going to reveal new hidden information about MJ, and that it is catered towards general audiences???

You do realize this is a big budget hollywood production trying to get as much money as it can, yeah there are a bunch of us MJ fans the general public are bigger than us , this biopic was never catered to us BUT it has us, his family and his legacy in mind, whilst showing alot of information to the publicthat will shock them due to never being bothered to research Michael or spent most their lives believing wacky rumours about Michael or never really considering him a human. The main point is to make as much money and success as they can but two things can simultaneously happen, the people involved do truely care about Michael and have said all amazing things about Jaafar and the movie, of course its up to our judgement if their assertions are right.

ALSO John Campea is a way more valuable and reliable source than Jeff Sneider, that man has had so much iffy things on his reports and makes the most outlandish claims. He claimed he knew about the 2 part delay before it got reported from deadline?? He was so adamant on them definitely delaying the biopic after the reports came in but now changed his tune and is making somewhat new claims. What most likely happened is either he is jealous someone reported the info before him or he just found out when we did and wants to act as if he knew all along trust me go through this guys history he is not that respected/reliable.

I understand why everyone is negative about this biopic, the lack of communication from Lionsgate is truly making us lose sanity. Although I have a theory as to why (I can explain some otherday) I genuinely think it doesnt justify this pure silence for their upcoming biggest project of their career.

It's kinda just a shitty situation but its kinda expected with hollywood movies, a Michael Jackson one at that. But I think we should still wait for the inevitavle delay/split announcement and see how it goes from there.

 

[zinniabooklover]

[...] Its all about execution of the 2 part idea [...]

This is the bit I'm most focused on bc I don't know how easy it is to turn this into a two-parter when the original script and all the production ideas were based around it being a one-off film (afaik). It feels awkward to be drastically re-working this thing this late in the day. But I'm not in the film industry and the production team are all very experienced so maybe it's not as hard to do this as I think it is.

I read earlier in chat that people are disappointed that this biopic isn't going to reveal new hidden information about MJ, and that it is catered towards general audiences??? [...]

Ngl, I do find this a bit odd. It's not a documentary and Lionsgate presumably wants the film to be a blockbuster. It's going to be very mainstream.

I understand why everyone is negative about this biopic,

Well, not everyone.

The delay is frustrating. If there is any truth in the rumour that the production team didn't know about the clause in the 1994 settlement agreement that is really annoying bc the info is there and it's not hard to find. They did years of research on this thing, I fail to see how they could miss it. If it's supposed to be that Cascio half-story ... well, that doesn't make much sense, either.

the lack of communication from Lionsgate is truly making us lose sanity. [...]

The lengthy silence is unhelpful, that's for sure.

[...] But I think we should still wait for the inevitavle delay/split announcement and see how it goes from there.

Sure, but people are still going to chat and speculate while they are waiting. If people are losing their sanity over this, as you just said, chucking out random ideas, re-posting photos from the film shoot last year, creating yet another fan-made film poster ... that's how some people are coping. I don't think that's going to change. I think that's how some people are maintaining their interest in this thing.

This movie is for those who know thriller and billie Jean and very little else [...]

Agreed but as long as they come up with something creative, interesting, exciting and accurate I'd be OK with that.

 

[Billie Jean 78]

Ngl, I do find this a bit odd. It's not a documentary and Lionsgate presumably wants the film to be a blockbuster. It's going to be very mainstream.

I think it is safe to say this, yes. I would assume this means his music will be very much present throughout the movie... a lot of his music... and dance scenes too. And let us not forget his live performances, his wild facial expressions on stage and his rough voice (I'm thinking about MITM Grammy 88). These are the main and the most attractive attributes that will drag masses into the cinemas.

That being said, I do think the movie should be taken advantage of to showcase the scam with the Arvizos and the Chandlers and the other personal dramas that he went through. It is litteraly the biggest platform Michael will ever get and there will be no second chance for that. I think this would be a priority to me rather than including any unpublished songs.

 

[aazzaabb]

I’m looking forward to it. I’m trying to exercise cautious optimism and not get too carried away with my expectations, but then I feel I should have expectations. Why settle for or be happy with mediocrity? MJ didn’t, and that was the point, wasn’t it? To make something great? I really hope they do him proud and deal with as much as is legally possible.

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

Even if they don't touch on a specific legal case there's plenty of ways to positively portray MJ.

His charity, his extensive charity, you could make half the movie about his charity.

His relationship with his family. His early childhood with his brothers, their relationships with groupies (Superfly Sister), his support of his nephew when he was SAed. Etc.

The most notable way would be to portray the story of Billie Jean. The inspiration behind the songs creation, of an obsessed fan who insisted that her child was his. The entire crux of the song, don't believe lies people tell about me, that could be the narrative backbone. Linger on that, call back to it as often as possible. Probably The single most cinematic answer to the question of the controversies of Michael Jackson.

 

[Masonh]

Even if they don't touch on a specific legal case there's plenty of ways to positively portray MJ.

His charity, his extensive charity, you could make half the movie about his charity.

His relationship with his family. His early childhood with his brothers, their relationships with groupies (Superfly Sister), his support of his nephew when he was SAed. Etc.

The most notable way would be to portray the story of Billie Jean. The inspiration behind the songs creation, of an obsessed fan who insisted that her child was his. The entire crux of the song, don't believe lies people tell about me, that could be the narrative backbone. Linger on that, call back to it as often as possible. Probably The single most cinematic answer to the question of the controversies of Michael Jackson.

Billie Jean is not real person. It's a mix of girls, groupies, who stalked Michael's brothers when he was a child

 

[etoile 37]

Even if they don't touch on a specific legal case there's plenty of ways to positively portray MJ.

His charity, his extensive charity, you could make half the movie about his charity.

His relationship with his family. His early childhood with his brothers, their relationships with groupies (Superfly Sister), his support of his nephew when he was SAed. Etc.

The most notable way would be to portray the story of Billie Jean. The inspiration behind the songs creation, of an obsessed fan who insisted that her child was his. The entire crux of the song, don't believe lies people tell about me, that could be the narrative backbone. Linger on that, call back to it as often as possible. Probably The single most cinematic answer to the question of the controversies of Michael Jackson.

And they could mention this:

David Nordahl: "Michael would get between 50 and 60 extortion attempts per year. Most of them were paternity. Women claiming that Michael was the father of their child, and a whole bunch of other ones were over music. Somebody had written a song or something and they claimed that Michael had stolen their music or their words. All of those things got thrown out of court because once they got to court, they couldn't back it up."

It would really help people understand why Michael settled the 1993 case. Ordinary people who have never been sued don't understand that he would have had to literally spend his life in court if he had tried to fight off all the people who wanted some of his money. If you don't believe people would lie about something like sexual abuse, can you believe that all those women would lie about a man they never met being the father of their children? And that they would do it even though it can be so easily disproved with a DNA test? For those people who believe all accusations, let them explain how a man they claim never touched a woman and was only interested in little boys was also accused of fathering the children of who knows how many women!

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

And they could mention this:

David Nordahl: "Michael would get between 50 and 60 extortion attempts per year. Most of them were paternity. Women claiming that Michael was the father of their child, and a whole bunch of other ones were over music. Somebody had written a song or something and they claimed that Michael had stolen their music or their words. All of those things got thrown out of court because once they got to court, they couldn't back it up."

It would really help people understand why Michael settled the 1993 case. Ordinary people who have never been sued don't understand that he would have had to literally spend his life in court if he had tried to fight off all the people who wanted some of his money. If you don't believe people would lie about something like sexual abuse, can you believe that all those women would lie about a man they never met being the father of their children? And that they would do it even though it can be so easily disproved with a DNA test? For those people who believe all accusations, let them explain how a man they claim never touched a woman and was only interested in little boys was also accused of fathering the children of who knows how many women!

@etoile 37 Now you're thinking with portals!