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

So the press wants me to believe that the estate and their gaggle of lawyers, at the same time they were at war with HBO over Leaving Neverland, somehow let the film get into the final months of editing before realizing that the entire third act was against the terms of the Chandler settlement? Neither they nor MJ’s own son said anything? And now to compensate they’re splitting the movie into two parts?

It just makes no sense. I don’t know what’s happening but I would be utterly baffled if it was that.

(Also, as a side bar—even if the film did disparage Jordan Chandler, who cares? He would have to come out of the woodwork to sue, which he absolutely wouldn’t.)
 
Since people can't stop speculating on unfounded claims here's a statement from Lionsgate yesterday
"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 (likely reshoots), 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 (this month). So be patient, and stay tuned."
From the Earnings call this February
Ruben Fleischer just showed us an exciting new director's cut of the third installment of Now You See Me (November 2025) extending a franchise whose first two films grossed nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office. And we're well on our way to completing production on our highly anticipated event movie, Michael.
Last month
A source close to production denies this (report by Puck), and tells Variety that characterization is Reed's "personal opinion", and that, "the script never portrayed the Chandlers in the way Mr. Reed has opined".
Last month again
A source close to the production tells PEOPLE Jan. 24, "The Michael Jackson biopic is not in total chaos. The inflammatory headlines about the moving halting are simply not true. The film is moving forward, and reshoots are happening in March."
 
Eddlicious said:
If they're ending the first movie on a positive note then it'll end with him at the 1984 Grammy Awards. If they're going with the dark ending route then I'm guessing it'll end with the news of the first allegations breaking.
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I don't think it would be a good idea to end the first movie with the allegations. People who watch the first part won't necessarily go to watch the second part and they would just leave with the impression that he was guilty. Whether they decide to bring up the allegations in the first part or in the second part, they need to fully deal with the allegations in the same movie, you don't want to raise up questions without providing answers.

They could end the first movie with Bad and show how the media was beginning to torment him, hinting that things are about to get rough in the second part. Ending it with Bad would allow them to start the second movie on a high note with Dangerous and the Superbowl before the allegations hit.

Remember that sad letter that Michael wrote in his hotel room during the Bad tour? That could be a good moment to end the first part, the last sentence hits pretty hard:

“Like the old Indian proverb says, “Do not judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” Most people don’t know me. That is why they write such things... I cry very, very often because it hurts and I worry about the children, all my children all over the world. I live for them... Animals strike not from malice, but because they want to live. It is the same with those who criticize. They desire our blood, not our pain. But still I must achieve. I must seek truth in all things. I must endure for the power I was sent forth, for the world, for the children. But have mercy, for I’ve been bleeding a long time now.”
 
etoile 37 said:
I don't think it would be a good idea to end the first movie with the allegations. People who watch the first part won't necessarily go to watch the second part and they would just leave with the impression that he was guilty. Whether they decide to bring up the allegations in the first part or in the second part, they need to fully deal with the allegations in the same movie, you don't want to raise up questions without providing answers.

They could end the first movie with Bad and show how the media was beginning to torment him, hinting that things are about to get rough in the second part. Ending it with Bad would allow them to start the second movie on a high note with Dangerous and the Superbowl before the allegations hit.

Remember that sad letter that Michael wrote in his hotel room during the Bad tour? That could be a good moment to end the first part, the last sentence hits pretty hard:

“Like the old Indian proverb says, “Do not judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” Most people don’t know me. That is why they write such things... I cry very, very often because it hurts and I worry about the children, all my children all over the world. I live for them... Animals strike not from malice, but because they want to live. It is the same with those who criticize. They desire our blood, not our pain. But still I must achieve. I must seek truth in all things. I must endure for the power I was sent forth, for the world, for the children. But have mercy, for I’ve been bleeding a long time now.”
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Right now they don't need footage, they don't need a trailer. Literally just a poster with the release date (October 2025) would be enough
 
If they will split it why not end with the Superbowl? Then the second part can resume with the dangerous tour and the circus around the allegations etc.
 
dam2040 said:
Lol get real. He worked for the sun as their MJ advisor and was a hater on fan forums in the early 2000s. Invincible absolutely does not suck and saying he wore a fake nose isn’t “just not wearing rose tinted glasses”
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Genuinely interested to hear the source for these; he seems like just a level-headed fan. He invests serious time into the MJCast (interviews, specials) as well as press interviews during LN in defense of Michael, documentaries, etc. No non-fan would dedicate their time for someone they hate.
 
lying
Matthew Belloni

@MattBelloni
Uh oh: At CinemaCon, Lionsgate declined to give an update or say anything about the delayed Michael Jackson movie, which is still scheduled for October release.



and the truth what Fogelson actually said about the movie at CinemaCon

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IhateTheMedia said:
Since people can't stop speculating on unfounded claims here's a statement from Lionsgate yesterday
"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 (likely reshoots), 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 (this month). So be patient, and stay tuned."
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Please don't be PR speak, please don't be PR speak... that sounds like prep for a 2-film announcement 🤞
 
& to think... it would've been out in like 2 in a half weeks from today🙄. I've never heard of a 2 film movie in theaters... will this be a 1st or something?
 
wonderouzmj said:
I've never heard of a 2 film movie in theaters... will this be a 1st or something?
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One of the Harry Potter movies had 2 parts. So did Kill Bill. Technically, the Marvel movies Infinity War & Endgame are one long movie. More recently there's the animated Spider-Verse (Miles Morales) & Wicked. But the 2nd parts of those haven't came out yet. I don't know if this counts, but there's a 4 movie Beatles biopic currently in production. It's supposed to be 1 film for each member, all starring the same actors.
 
This whole "two part" news reminds me of the original announcement for Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies. They were originally announced as two films, but later on they decided it would be a trilogy, because money. But since the original Hobbit book was much shorter than each of the original LOTR books, so they added A LOT of padding for the 3 Hobbit films, including a bunch of shit that was never in the source material.

If this ends up being a two-parter, I'm fine with that. When this biopic was first announced, I was skeptical because I don't believe a single 2-3 hour movie is enough to do justice to MJ's career. I bet the general public will be like "this is the least necessary two-part movie ever", but I don't care. As long as both movies are good and tell the truth about MJ.
 
AlwaysThere said:
So the press wants me to believe that the estate and their gaggle of lawyers, at the same time they were at war with HBO over Leaving Neverland, somehow let the film get into the final months of editing before realizing that the entire third act was against the terms of the Chandler settlement? Neither they nor MJ’s own son said anything? And now to compensate they’re splitting the movie into two parts?

It just makes no sense. I don’t know what’s happening but I would be utterly baffled if it was that.

(Also, as a side bar—even if the film did disparage Jordan Chandler, who cares? He would have to come out of the woodwork to sue, which he absolutely wouldn’t.)
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I think June can also sue.

But that story was debunked by Charlie Thomson's unnamed source. Apparently the main reason for reshoots and delay is the Cascios 213 MIL extortion case and the fact that the deal was kept secret from Lionsgate. They felt betrayed by the Estate and decided to minimize or remove completely the talk about the allegations because they fear that this or another similar extortion case could appear right during the promotional campaign and damage their investment.
 
OnirMJ said:
decided to minimize or remove completely the talk about the allegations because they fear that this or another similar extortion case could appear right during the promotional campaign and damage their investment.
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It has absolutely no sense. With or without allegations in the movie you can't prevent any extortion attempt that will use the biopic as a media tool.
 
CodaBroda said:
Genuinely interested to hear the source for these; he seems like just a level-headed fan. He invests serious time into the MJCast (interviews, specials) as well as press interviews during LN in defense of Michael, documentaries, etc. No non-fan would dedicate their time for someone they hate.
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A level headed fan? Maybe in today's age of this forum where actively bashing MJ is just being 'casual'.

I can't dig through years of tweets because he blocked me when I called him out for it, using zoomed in pictures. There must be other fans who have been around for a long time who know this guy is a fraud.
 
"The Flash" was originally meant to release in 2018. It didn't release until 2023.
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
I'm not thrilled about the idea of two part biopic to be honest.

I wish they would have focused on a period of his life, then maybe had flashbacks to his childhood
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Dune being split into 2 movies was an example of this being the right call. Hopefully, if true for the MJ film, it will be the same.
 
If this rumour happens to be true, I think the outrage/disagreements with the idea will die down and I think people will warm up to it, kinda like how so many people were questioning/against the idea of there being a biopic being made until we saw more of it. Call it cope or whatever I just think we should hear GK and Lionsgate out if they think this path is the right one.
 
Everyone could have handled the production of this film so much better. It does feel somewhat rudderless, but I think that comes from the lack of communication from those involved.
 
OnirMJ said:
I think June can also sue.

But that story was debunked by Charlie Thomson's unnamed source. Apparently the main reason for reshoots and delay is the Cascios 213 MIL extortion case and the fact that the deal was kept secret from Lionsgate. They felt betrayed by the Estate and decided to minimize or remove completely the talk about the allegations because they fear that this or another similar extortion case could appear right during the promotional campaign and damage their investment.
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I wish we never had to talk about the stupid allegations again but obviously, we don't live in my fantasy world 😂

I just worry that any minimizing or eliminating of the allegations opens this movie up to even more criticism then it's already going to get.

Unfortunately, just a tough position to be in.

Oh well, we'll no more in a couple of weeks. Everything until then is just rumor/speculation.
 
I wonder how much being in two parts would damage the box office attraction.
 
LiveItOffTheWall said:
I just worry that any minimizing or eliminating of the allegations opens this movie up to even more criticism then it's already going to get.
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If it's really a 2 part movie we can assume that there will be a lot of scenes about allegations. Maybe that story about Cascio extortion has triggered the creators to talk even more about the allegations and trial. And that's why the second part is necessary.
 
dam2040 said:
I wonder how much being in two parts would damage the box office attraction.
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No damage at all. Any movie that was split to 2 made good if not excellent box office (Twilight, Harry Potter, Dune, Mission Impossible, Wicked). As usual everything depends on the quality of the movie.
 
t1mber said:
No damage at all. Any movie that was split to 2 made good if not excellent box office (Twilight, Harry Potter, Dune, Mission Impossible, Wicked). As usual everything depends on the quality of the movie.
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A fictional movie is different from a biopic. I've never heard of a 2 part biopic that was released to theaters before this and the upcoming Beatles 4 part one. Multi-part biopics have always been made for TV (The Jacksons, The Temptations, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Tammy Wynette/George Jones, Wu Tang Clan, etc.). Very few biopics of any kind (music or otherwise) have been box office blockbusters.
 
DuranDuran said:
A fictional movie is different from a biopic. I've never heard of a 2 part biopic that was released to theaters before this and the upcoming Beatles 4 part one. Multi-part biopics have always been made for TV (The Jacksons, The Temptations, New Edition, Bobby Brown, Tammy Wynette/George Jones, Wu Tang Clan, etc.). Very few biopics of any kind (music or otherwise) have been box office blockbusters.
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Michael is a pioneer in everything. Before him no one had made short film like him, no one had made 2-year promo campaign for an album, no one had made extraordinary Superbowl show. If anyone it's him who deserves 2 part biopic.
 
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t1mber said:
Michale is a pioneer in everything. Before him no one had made short film like him, no one had made 2-year promo campaign for an album, no one had made extraordinary Superbowl show. If anyone it's him who deserves 2 part biopic.
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To be quite frank... 4 parts would be possible with a life story like his. Age 0 to 20 and then each decade for itself.
 
t1mber said:
Michale is a pioneer in everything. Before him no one had made short film like him, no one had made 2-year promo campaign for an album, no one had made extraordinary Superbowl show. If anyone it's him who deserves 2 part biopic.
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Not exactly true. Michael Nesmith (from The Monkees) released a video called Elephant Parts in 1981. He even won a Grammy Award for it.
 
t1mber said:
Michale is a pioneer in everything. Before him no one had made short film like him, no one had made 2-year promo campaign for an album, no one had made extraordinary Superbowl show. If anyone it's him who deserves 2 part biopic.
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He was but Michael is no longer with us.

We’re now relying on others to do his legacy justice and showcase his talents to the world.

For what it’s worth, having a 2 part movie 100% makes sense. The issue though is that the highlights will all be in part 1. The second half of Michael’s life is a tragedy so it will be a very difficult watch.
 
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