Since before filming began, those behind the musical biographical film about Michael Jackson They were in the middle of a controversy.
Antoine Fuquathe director, who is best known for action films such as training day or the trilogy of The vigilante (The Equalizer), is at the helm of a drama that spared no expense, following the line that began Bohemian Rhapsody and made it a smash hit.
The cast includes Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jacksonin his film debut playing the King of Pop. The project has been underway since 2019 and when the post-production stage was reached, the problems began.
It is said that the director had to reshoot a lot of material due to a legal problem because, apparently, no one responsible for Jackson’s estate had found out about the script (they did approve the use of Jackson’s real music).
Of course the cry in the sky from the executors of the work had to do with the well-known accusations of sexual abuse and pedophilia surrounding the singer, complaints that led to his prosecution, not his conviction, in 2005. The back and forth with the script indicated that “the alleged victim had never been authorized to dramatize” Jordan Chandler or to his family.
Michael Jackson first faced accusations of child sexual abuse in 1993. Evan Chandlera Los Angeles dentist accused Jackson of sexually abusing his 13 year old son,Jordan. The rewriting process alone pushed the release date back by at least six months.
For Jackson’s biographical film the use of his songs was agreed. For the rest, it was necessary to have the approval of Jackson’s family, who carefully reserved the power to fully approve the script.
This issue derailed production because, apparently, someone had failed to dot all the i’s. Aware of the situation, the executors of the work put an unappealable obstacle and in a statement said: “Years before approving Michael’s film, the Jackson team agreed that they would never include the Chandlers in such a film. There is an agreement signed even with the Chandlers that prohibits any dramatization of them or their stories. That agreement has now rendered the planned story unusable as well as several key scenes that were filmed.”
All this became known after the distributor Lionsgate rolled out the red carpet for Michael through the first advances in 2024 and start rolling the surprise factor that Jackson’s nephew implies, Jaafar Jackson, perfectly embodying the appearance and physique of his late uncle.
The film was originally scheduled to be released in April 2025, but at the time deadline reported that the biographical film had been delayed until October 2025, an intention that would finally suffer a new postponement.
In the first version, completely erased, Michael It showed one of the darkest moments of the singer’s life: the 1993 child abuse allegations. There were even scenes where the police came to the Neverland ranch to look for evidence.
But those scenes disappeared when a clause in the agreement signed between the singer’s family and Jordan Chandler, the young man who filed the abuse complaint, came to light. The writing on the matter was clear: it was prohibited to mention it or represent it in a film.
At first, the film had been approved with a budget of 155 million dollarsbut the new recordings added between 10 and 15 million more. The biopic ended up costing at least $170 million, according to reports Variety.
The new trailer released on Wednesday April 8 shows that, instead of including the scandal, it now ends with Jackson at the peak of his career, during the world tour Badseconds before going on stage.
According to what was known, the film exposes Michael Jackson’s journey beyond music, from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as leader of the jackson five until becoming an icon of the entertainment industry.
Then, the dramatic tension will no longer involve the controversial accusations against him, but rather the conflictive relationship with his father, Joe Jacksonwho does not want his son to pursue a solo career after his time in the jackson 5the group of Motown that catapulted the family to fame.
Michael It will finally be released in Argentina this Thursday April 23, 2026.
