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

usually 5 month before first official teaser
monkey-meme-meme.gif
 
as of this moment, a24’s The Smashing Machine and Michael are scheduled to come out on the same day. A trailer for The Smashing Machine came out today.
 
I doubt the biopic will release on October 3rd, movies like the biopic and The Smashing Machine would not release on the same day as that creates a competition between them. Granted some big movies release on the same day for the sole purpose of competing. It would be a horrible move for the biopic to release on the same day as another movie, they are better off having it release on a day without direct competition. It seems A24 put their release date as October 3rd after the reports of the delay, I think that is confirmation that studios and film execs know there will be changes to the release date of 'Michael'
 
I'm surprised that MJVibe is the only source so far that has confirmed that it's been delayed to 2026. Despite MJVibe being a reputable source and being able to confirm directly with the Estate and Sony that it won't be released in 2025 (last paragraph), I haven't seen MJVibe referenced anywhere else other than this forum thread, even among MJ social media.
 
I doubt the biopic will release on October 3rd, movies like the biopic and The Smashing Machine would not release on the same day as that creates a competition between them.
I wouldn't consider a sports drama with 40M budget about a wrestler no one knows about outside the US as a competitor to a biopic with 200M budget about one of the most popular man ever lived. Usually every week there are at least 2-5 new movies at wide release. Rarely there are weekends with no new movies or only 1 of them. So October 2025 is still possible. We'll know it soon.
 
I wouldn't consider a sports drama with 40M budget about a wrestler no one knows about outside the US as a competitor to a biopic with 200M budget about one of the most popular man ever lived. [...]
I already had this convo with someone on the thread, lol. Tbf, they did have an explanation about how the industry decides when to release a film. I don't usually go to see films on the opening weekend so I never pay attention to which film is competing for which demographic but I can understand the argument. But your basic point is the same one I made and I haven't really changed my mind.

I like Mr JT's comment about Michael and competition. I like the idea of them releasing the film regardless of what the competition is on opening weekend - whichever year it comes out.
 
Calm down, Michael will be in cinemas in 2025 after all.

Not to be vehemently against the idea of it still releasing this year, though I am still under the belief that it is going to be delayed, I am open to discuss this. But The Wiz re-release is clearly not promotion for the biopic, the only reason The Wiz is back in cinema is due to it celebrating 50 years of the play. It was going to come out regardless, biopic or not.
 
I wouldn't consider a sports drama with 40M budget about a wrestler no one knows about outside the US as a competitor to a biopic with 200M budget about one of the most popular man ever lived. Usually every week there are at least 2-5 new movies at wide release. Rarely there are weekends with no new movies or only 1 of them. So October 2025 is still possible. We'll know it soon.

Why would A24 a smaller studio with a smaller niche film decide it would be an amazing idea to release their film on the same day as the huge Hollywood big budget Michael Jackson film.

The only reason I think it's valid to see this as evidence of the delay was due to how A24 took the release date of the biopic immediately after the reports of the potential delay. Behind the scenes, film execs and studios know more about what's going on rather than us the public. Also although The Smashing Machine is a smaller movie it still has it's own promo run and production pipeline so they would definitely not take the October date unless they were 100% assured of Michael being pushed back. It is also very rare for different movies to release on the same day unless there is reason like a whole competition between companies or a whole marketing campaign like Barbie and Oppenheimer.
 
[...] It is also very rare for different movies to release on the same day unless there is reason like a whole competition between companies or a whole marketing campaign like Barbie and Oppenheimer.
I must not be understanding this statement. :unsure:

In the UK several different films are released every Friday. On April 18 we got Warfare, Sinners and that penguin thing. There were others but those 3 were the big-release mainstream things that came out.


'Michael' and the Mark Kerr film are biopics about American men, imo that's more or less all they have in common, but I can see why A24 might want to avoid going head-to-head with 'Michael'. Anyway, re-posting Bogdan's post on film release decisions which I found helpful.
Movie box office performance is often quantified by referring to the "4 quadrants" - basically to which demographic does it most appeal to - male female young old etc. That's the reason you normally don't see 2 or 3 animated movies or action movies or any other similar genre opening against each other on the same weekend. Usually the studios would choose to offer "counter programming".
 
I have faith that Michael biopic's official trailer will come out in June

This place will be exploded

Of course this is just my hope
 
The movie has been delayed to 2026 so not expecting a full trailer until the end of the year but they should be giving us a teaser at least. This summer has big blockbusters so that would be a good time to tease something in the cinemas.
 
Now you see me 3 drops in November & we got a trailer to that yesterday. (Even though it took almost 10 years for the 3rd act) but even in the comment section...people are truly asking where is the mj biopic. Kinda actually blew my mind that it's in high demand yet still not even a teaser or poster...
 
Now you see me 3 drops in November & we got a trailer to that yesterday. (Even though it took almost 10 years for the 3rd act) but even in the comment section...people are truly asking where is the mj biopic. Kinda actually blew my mind that it's in high demand yet still not even a teaser or poster...
Assuming a 2026 release for the film, now would be way too early for a poster. It would be great if they did one, though. I can't see how the content and design of a poster could be affected by re-shoots. The fan-made posters I've seen are very nicely done but I'd rather see something real. I don't think it will happen but it would be nice ...
 
Assuming a 2026 release for the film, now would be way too early for a poster. It would be great if they did one, though. I can't see how the content and design of a poster could be affected by re-shoots. The fan-made posters I've seen are very nicely done but I'd rather see something real. I don't think it will happen but it would be nice ...
i think april 2026 first part and october 2026
part 2!!
 
Hopefully, Lionsgate will make an announcement in the next couple of months and then we'll know what their plans are. :)
Hopefully sooner: This quote is from April 1th

"Ever since we debuted some early Michael footage at CinemaCon last year, it's been crystal clear how much global interest and enthusiasm there is,"Fogelson said from the Las Vegas stage. "Much has happened since ), and while we aren't quite ready to share more, we're going to have some very big! and exciting! things to say in the coming weeks.
 
"Coming weeks" usually implies less than a month, but have definitely seen PR end up stretching that term to months. Here's to hoping ☕
 
Hopefully sooner: This quote is from April 1th

"Ever since we debuted some early Michael footage at CinemaCon last year, it's been crystal clear how much global interest and enthusiasm there is,"Fogelson said from the Las Vegas stage. "Much has happened since ), and while we aren't quite ready to share more, we're going to have some very big! and exciting! things to say in the coming weeks.
I agree and I flagged this up a while back when I posted that John Campea video. Tbh, based on their CinemaCon statement, I'd have expected something from them by now. CinemaCon was a month ago, after all. But it hasn't happened so I thought, OK, maybe John Campea is right, he did say an announcement from Lionsgate was likely in the next couple of months and that is beginning to feel more realistic to me.

Maybe they want to wait until the re-shoots are all done? There could be any number of reasons why it's taking a while. :unsure:
 
If it were to be... How would you split it up? 2nd part all about the trial? No, that wouldn't do as there are not enough years afterwards... Maybe the 2000s would be suitable for the 3rd part.
First part: Jackson 5 / Jacksons

Second part: Off The Wall - Bad

Third part: Dangerous - This Is It

But I think two parts would be enough, I mean if they made each part 3 hours long, that would already be 6 hours.
 
First part: Jackson 5 / Jacksons

Second part: Off The Wall - Bad

Third part: Dangerous - This Is It

But I think two parts would be enough, I mean if they made each part 3 hours long, that would already be 6 hours.
I mean realistically it'd be Off The Wall as the cornerstone of Part 1. Thriller Bad and Dangerous as the huge 2nd part and then the final years of HIStory to This Is It for Part 3. If this crazy idea actually came to be.
 
Small update from Jeff Sneider in his newsletter and The Hot Mic (at the 1h mark):


Before we begin, a little update on the Michael Jackson movie Michael. I was the first person to report on the possibility of Lionsgate and director Antoine Fuqua splitting Michael into two films, and sure enough, I’m hearing that crew members have been contacted about returning to work this summer, lending credence to that theory. Stay tuned for an official announcement from Lionsgate, which has a lot of money tied up in this project. That’s why the studio is eager to split the film into two parts — theoretically, Lionsgate and its partners would double their box office haul.
 
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