The Official 'Michael' Bio-Pic Thread

It’s giving contractual obligation.

A posthumous album with unreleased songs is more likely to be the gamble:
 
Is it confirmed that this is the actual soundtrack for the film? The Instagram post refers to it as a companion album as opposed to a soundtrack.

The soundtrack would also likely include some form of background music used in the introduction, as the Lionsgate/Universal logos are shown.
 
Is it confirmed that this is the actual soundtrack for the film? The Instagram post refers to it as a companion album as opposed to a soundtrack.

The soundtrack would also likely include some form of background music used in the introduction, as the Lionsgate/Universal logos are shown.
Score and soundtrack are used interchangeably in many instances but there is usually a Soundtrack Album and an Original Motion Picture Score album.
 
It feels like the closer we get to the release, the less fans are looking forward to this biopic. I've had a feeling for while we're basically getting a remake of Jacksons American Dream

Hopefully they give us something special in the build up like a demo of a released song or something like Dreams Away to get us excited, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
 
Is it confirmed that this is the actual soundtrack for the film? The Instagram post refers to it as a companion album as opposed to a soundtrack.

The soundtrack would also likely include some form of background music used in the introduction, as the Lionsgate/Universal logos are shown.
Possible, but there was no score for Bohemian Rhapsody. Same producers etc.
 
Is it confirmed that this is the actual soundtrack for the film? The Instagram post refers to it as a companion album as opposed to a soundtrack.

The soundtrack would also likely include some form of background music used in the introduction, as the Lionsgate/Universal logos are shown.
just a companion, not a score, not a soundtrack, and you can definitely look forward to the next few announcements.

Here's one: Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are being reissued on standard black Vinyl soon
 
just a companion, not a score, not a soundtrack, and you can definitely look forward to the next few announcements.

Here's one: Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are being reissued on standard black Vinyl soon
Soundtrack coming too then I suppose?
 
I've had a feeling for while we're basically getting a remake of Jacksons American Dream
At the end of the day, people actually find the story of MJ post Thriller more fascinating. His life before then, while interesting, is more straight forward. Rise to fame and a poor childhood is kind of standard Hollywood.

Everything that happened in the 90s, that’s truly untapped and that’s why Part 2 is the one to bank on.
 
Is it confirmed that this is the actual soundtrack for the film? The Instagram post refers to it as a companion album as opposed to a soundtrack.

The soundtrack would also likely include some form of background music used in the introduction, as the Lionsgate/Universal logos are shown.
Companion albums are commonly used with big budget movies. The difference is a soundtrack is songs from the film where a companion album has songs inspired by the characters and theme of the movie.

In this case, its a good way to keep what's in the film a mystery. You'll hear more.

Many movies only have companion albums and people interchangeably call it "soundtrack" even though it's not the case.




Side note.
Regarding the comments comparing to American Dream. It's a very different film. It's a complete new telling of Michaels story.
 
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At the end of the day, people actually find the story of MJ post Thriller more fascinating. His life before then, while interesting, is more straight forward. Rise to fame and a poor childhood is kind of standard Hollywood.

Everything that happened in the 90s, that’s truly untapped and that’s why Part 2 is the one to bank on.
Well, unless you’re Blair I guess.
 
The movie is still the main focus here. Can’t have a soundtrack cut into that profit. Point is, Biopic. Nothing new came with Cirque De Soleil or the musical so why would this be any different.

Maybe the film will include some scenes with songs… maybe there’s spoilers there. Might have to go see it in theaters 🌞
 
So, Man In The Mirror will be saved for pt 2?

The lack of Bad songs on the soundtrack (and if true, the movie) is concerning to me. And it’s not just because of the song but because of what the Bad period meant for MJ as an artist and songwriter. I really hope they do not gloss over the Bad era.
They really should have filmed more Bad Tour when they had to do reshoots. MITM performance after Bad would be better ending.

Edit: Or maybe they tried to film more (white shirt performance) but it ended up being cut too.
 
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Seems like pretty bog standard biopic stuff
Nothing wrong with the bog standard stuff for the biopic, my issue is there’s not enough of it. I’m at a loss at the thought of Rock With You not being included or even something tender like she’s out of my life. PYT is a big hit and no sign of that either, not that I expected a performance of it btw (cause there is none)
 
It feels like the closer we get to the release, the less fans are looking forward to this biopic. I've had a feeling for while we're basically getting a remake of Jacksons American Dream

Hopefully they give us something special in the build up like a demo of a released song or something like Dreams Away to get us excited, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Core fans are not the target audience, they know we will buy tickets to see it no matter what, getting us excited with unreleased songs is probably not part of their promotional run
 
Nothing wrong with the bog standard stuff for the biopic, my issue is there’s not enough of it. I’m at a loss at the thought of Rock With You not being included or even something tender like she’s out of my life. PYT is a big hit and no sign of that either, not that I expected a performance of it btw (cause there is none)
It’s certainly leaning into the songs Michael wrote himself, which is both a good and bad thing. Good in that it will hopefully elevate MJ’s reputation as a songwriter, but bad in that it may gloss over Temperton, Tom Bahler or James Ingram’s contributions. But we shall see
 
They really should have filmed more Bad Tour when they had to do reshoots. MITM performance after Bad would be better ending.

Edit: Or maybe they tried do film more (white shirt performance) but it ended up being cut too.

I believe I know the approach they’re taking after seeing the track list and the trailers. As many of us know, Hollywood is obsessed with Joseph Campbell The Hero’s Journey and the 3 arc structure (in my honest opinion this model flattens biopics into formulaic, painted by numbers projects). As the trailers have alluded to, the personal journey that’s highlighted is breaking free, and not only fram his family but stepping into the role where he takes creative control of his destiny as well. And I believe the latter will be shown with thriller. I think they had to choose either Thriller or Bad because at a story level these two periods have semi functional roles. Bad was also about MJ “breaking free” but on a bigger scale (in terms of songwriting, but not cultural impact). For maximum effect I think they’ll condense these two together. If given the choice to choose one point in time that reflects his peak as the climax of the story, thriller feels like the natural choice.


This is all just conjecture, and I really hope I’m wrong because Bad deserves a huge spotlight.
 
the soundtrack
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Though I have to say my first reaction is disappointment.
This leaves hope and room for another project involving the unreleased stuff.
Which, if done correctly, will be even better than having one or two "new" songs on a soundtrack with 13 songs we already own multiple times
 
In response to the argument that this may not be the "soundtrack", it is possible - but no one has been announced as a composer. John Ottman (composer for Superman Returns, X-2, Days of Future Past etc) is "editing" the film but not listed as doing music. Bohemian Rhapsody had no score, but Ottman was involved in the music side of things.

If there was to be a separate soundtrack, the composer would have been announced a year ago. Also, if this was only a "companion" album and they do decide to release a more expanded soundtrack - why would they risk sales of either? Especially to damage sales for a proper soundtrack with a 58 minute compilation.

Anything is possible, but I just find this release so so strange - especially that it's getting a physical release (which a lot of movie soundtracks actually don't get nowadays). I'm hoping that it's not the only release because I have no intention of getting it myself.

"This album highlights 13 songs showcased in the film" is interesting. Especially that they will give us the Live 81 songs but not Live 84 songs.
 
Nothing wrong with the bog standard stuff for the biopic, my issue is there’s not enough of it. I’m at a loss at the thought of Rock With You not being included or even something tender like she’s out of my life. PYT is a big hit and no sign of that either, not that I expected a performance of it btw (cause there is none)
Questionable compilation choices have been made since HIStory in the 90s though, it’s really not that unbelievable.
 
Anything is possible, but I just find this release so so strange - especially that it's getting a physical release (which a lot of movie soundtracks actually don't get nowadays). I'm hoping that it's not the only release because I have no intention of getting it myself.
Probably also some sort of royalty thing, to ensure Universal or whoever gets their cut of the pie in a way.
 
When they first postponed the realease date from last april to last october, they stated sth like autumn release being better timed for the awards season and tgey had high hopes for it. (Thats obviously not the case now, but I also find it hard to imagine that release date determines chances for awards.)
Anyway, they said they were hoping for an award for best song. It was discussed here that it would have to be a new song explicitly produced for the movie.
Now no news on that... it could be that 1 it was a marketing bluff, there is no such song, 2 that song will be in part two, 3 it will be a surprise that we could look forward to. What do you think?
 

Thoughts? Seems a little low for MJ surely? $52m - 65m+ opening
I‘d expect this movie to not fall in the typical 1/3 (North America) 2/3 (international) market split.
I‘m thinking 20-25% from north american market, which would lead to a 225 - 275 world wide opening.
And then the movie needs to be very good, a good cinema score & good word of mouth for legs in the following weeks..
Plus Asia (China especially) COULD be very big with Michael.
 
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