How The Michael Jackson Movie Biopic Will Chronicle Controversial Musician’s Life: “He Was Human”
With the multiple Grammy winner being just as controversial as he is beloved, director Antoine Fuqua is explaining how Michael will chronicle the musician’s life. Fuqua, well-known for his frequent collaborations with Denzel Washington, revealed he would be working on a Michael Jackson biopic in early 2023, collaborating with Oscar-winning producer Graham King, who previously tackled the music biographical genre with 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Jaafar Jackson, the musician’s real-life nephew, is set to lead the cast of Michael as Jackson, with filming initially scheduled to kick off later in the year.
With the multiple Grammy winner being just as controversial as he is beloved, director Antoine Fuqua is explaining how Michael will chronicle the musician’s life. Fuqua, well-known for his frequent collaborations with Denzel Washington, revealed he would be working on a Michael Jackson biopic in early 2023, collaborating with Oscar-winning producer Graham King, who previously tackled the music biographical genre with 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Jaafar Jackson, the musician’s real-life nephew, is set to lead the cast of Michael as Jackson, with filming initially scheduled to kick off later in the year.
The music biopic genre has enjoyed something of a resurgence over the past few years, especially thanks to King’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which grossed over $910 million at the box office and netted four Oscar wins, in spite of its mixed reviews. The Elton John-based Rocketman followed just a year later, garnering far better reviews, albeit a much lower box office haul and showing at the Oscars. Elvis continued the genre’s success this past year with a near-$300 million gross and eight Oscar nods, though didn’t win any of them.
While Baz Luhrmann’s stylized effort seemed to be one of the riskier efforts in the genre, Michael will have a major hurdle to overcome in tackling its late subject’s life. Over nearly 40 years, Jackson has been the subject of much controversy in regards to the accusations of sexually abusing multiple children at his home, the Neverland Ranch, which itself was the focus of the acclaimed-yet-controversial documentary Leaving Neverland. Additionally, Jackson’s various surgeries and tabloid headlines made his legacy one of the trickier for longtime fans of his to embrace.
This is a sentiment echoed by Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed, who slammed Michael in a lengthy op-ed for it glorifying “a man who raped children” and questioning whether the biopic will tackle these accusations. Given the court cases for Jackson’s allegations have gone back and forth for decades, it’s unclear if Fuqua will consider it a factual chapter in the late musician’s life to explore, or will avoid it entirely. With the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody scoring much criticism for their deviations and twists on real-world events, one can hope the director and his team find a way to address it in an appropriate manner.
