Michael (2026 film)

• 1. Introduction

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  Michael, a 2026 biographical film about the singer Michael Jackson, had a teaser trailer that drew 116.2 million views in its first 24 hours. Lionsgate released it on the 6th of November 2025, and 30 million of those views arrived within six hours. No earlier Lionsgate film had opened that strongly. No trailer for a musical biopic or concert film had either. The previous holder of that record, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour from 2023, had reached 96.1 million. A hit trailer is one thing. The film behind it had a far rougher road. The version audiences finally saw is not the version the crew first shot. This documentary asks how a film about a pop star's rise was assembled, what was removed on the way, and why the same movie earned both warm audience grades and a run of one-star reviews.

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• 2. The Story on Screen

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  In 1966, a steel worker named Joseph Jackson turns his sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael into a band called the Jackson 5, with Michael on lead vocals. Months of punishing rehearsal follow, and the film shows Joseph using corporal punishment. Suzanne De Passe discovers the group in Chicago in 1968, and Motown signs them a year later. Hit albums and sold-out concerts carry the family from a small house in Gary, Indiana, to a mansion in Encino, California, in 1971. Motown founder Berry Gordy sees even greater potential in Michael as a solo act.

  In 1978, Michael signs with Epic Records to make Off the Wall, his first solo album as an adult, with Quincy Jones producing. Joseph still believes he alone is responsible for his children's fortunes, and Michael is made to keep touring with his brothers on the Triumph Tour. Insecure about his looks and developing vitiligo, Michael has a rhinoplasty to make his nose smaller. After an argument with Joseph, he follows the advice of his bodyguard and close friend Bill Bray. In 1981, he hires John Branca as his attorney and has Branca fire Joseph by fax.

  A news report on the Crips and Bloods gang war gives Michael an idea for his next album, due in 1982. He hires members of both gangs to appear in the music video for "Beat It". Thriller then breaks sales records worldwide, and his performance of "Billie Jean" at Motown 25 is shown as a landmark. Michael and Branca travel to New York to ask CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff for help getting his videos onto MTV, a network that did not play videos by black artists. MTV gives way after Yetnikoff threatens to pull the whole CBS Records catalog from the network.

  Boxing promoter Don King meets Joseph and floats the 1984 Victory Tour, which would reunite the brothers. King attaches a PepsiCo sponsorship, on condition that Michael tours with the Jacksons, and Michael objects. While the family films a Pepsi commercial, a spark from the pyrotechnics sets Michael's hair on fire. He suffers third-degree burns and nerve damage. He and Branca sue PepsiCo, and the settlement money goes to the burn center that treated him. After recovering, Michael joins the tour. At the final show, at Dodger Stadium, the brothers perform "Human Nature" and "Working Day and Night". Michael announces it is the last time the Jacksons will play together, which also ends his ties with Joseph. The film closes in 1988 at Wembley Stadium, where his first solo tour, the Bad World Tour, meets an ecstatic crowd. That finish line was set only after heavy rewriting.

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• 3. Getting It Made

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  In November 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported that the English producer Graham King had secured the rights to a Michael Jackson film, with John Logan attached as screenwriter. Lionsgate Films announced the project in February 2022 and held the global distribution rights. In October 2023, Universal Pictures International took over international distribution. In July 2024, Kino Films agreed to a deal to release the film in Japan. The last theatrical film about Jackson, Michael Jackson's This Is It from 2009, came from Columbia Pictures, a sister company to Jackson's record label, Sony Music. Neither company was involved this time. King said he interviewed hundreds of people who knew Jackson while preparing the film.

  In January 2023, Antoine Fuqua was announced as director, and casting began that same month under casting director Kimberly Hardin. The lead role went to Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, after what he described as a two-year casting process. He said he was "humbled and honoured". His grandmother Katherine Jackson, who is also Michael's mother, said he "embodies" her son. In January 2024, the newcomer Juliano Valdi was cast as young Michael. Colman Domingo took the role of Joe Jackson, and Nia Long became Katherine. Miles Teller was confirmed as John Branca in February, the rest of the Jackson 5 were named that month, and most other roles filled in March. Derek Luke joined in April 2024 as Johnnie Cochran. Kat Graham's portrayal of Diana Ross was cut because of "legal considerations".

  Michael's son Prince served as an executive producer and followed the film's progress. His daughter Paris Jackson objected to Teller's casting in a legal filing against the executors of the Michael Jackson estate, John Branca and John McClain. She argued that costly casting put part of the estate's assets at risk. She also accused Branca of seeing himself as "central to the Michael Jackson story" and of trying to "enrich and aggrandize himself". Michael's sisters Janet and Rebbie and his brother Randy do not appear in the film. According to La Toya, Janet "kindly declined" to be included. With the cast set by April 2024, the script was still changing.

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• 4. The Rewrite

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  An earlier version of the film opened in 1993, with Michael staring at his reflection as police arrive at his home at Neverland Ranch. That opening came right after the first child sexual abuse allegations against him, and the third act explored what those accusations did to his life. King said he wanted to "humanize but not sanitize and present the most compelling, unbiased story". Domingo said the film was not "trying to prove his innocence" but was offering an examination of an artist, so viewers could leave with their own answers.

  Then a clause turned up in a legal settlement with one of Michael's accusers, Jordan Chandler. It forbade any mention of Chandler in a film. Every reference to the allegations was pulled, including the scenes of Derek Luke as Cochran. Rewrites slowed further when the Palisades Fire damaged Logan's house. Fuqua said he was about to submit his final cut when he was told to change the film. He, King and Logan settled on a new focus, Jackson's journey to becoming "a superhero on the stage". The final script stops as the Bad World Tour begins, before the first allegations arose. Domingo said this keeps attention on Michael's rise and peak. Long said it highlights his early achievements and leaves the rest of his life for a possible sequel.

  The crew had already filmed Jackson's life up to 1995, including an action sequence re-enacting the 1993 police raid on Neverland Ranch. After the rewrite, reshoots in June 2025 ran for 22 days. Lionsgate denied reports that the film was in "chaos". Reports put the budget at around $200 million after the reshoots, with a new ending costing roughly $50 million, which would make it one of the most expensive biopics ever. Variety reported a far smaller addition of $10-15 million, paid for by the Jackson estate. The total production budget is given as $155-200 million.

  Paris Jackson took no part in the film and called an early script "sugar-coated". Her script suggestions went unused. On Instagram, she criticized Hollywood biopics for shaping inaccurate narratives and containing "full-blown lies". Domingo replied that he hoped the film would honor her father.

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• 5. Cameras, Cuts and Songs

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  Principal photography was first scheduled for mid-2023, over 80 days in Santa Barbara, California. The California Film Commission projected that the production would spend $120 million on crew wages and vendors. The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike pushed the start back in September 2023. Filming finally ran from the 22nd of January to the 30th of May 2024. Dion Beebe served as cinematographer, Barbara Ling as production designer and Marci Rodgers as costume designer.

  In February 2025, Lionsgate told investors during its annual earnings call that production was nearing completion. By April 2025, reports said the film might be split in two because its runtime had reached four hours. The following month, it was pushed to 2026 with a runtime of three and a half hours. Visual effects came from Cinesite, Industrial Light & Magic, Folks, Rodeo FX, Rising Sun Pictures and Lola Visual Effects, supervised by Louis Morin. Four editors shared the cutting: Conrad Buff IV, Tom Cross, John Ottman and Harry Yoon. In January 2026, the final writing credits were revealed. Logan received sole credit, and Kenya Barris and Peter Saji were attributed with additional off-screen literary material.

  The soundtrack carries 13 songs, drawn from the Jackson 5 and from Michael's albums Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987). Lior Rosner wrote the underscore cues that sit between the songs.

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• 6. Release and Box Office

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  On the 10th of April 2024, theatre owners at CinemaCon saw a first look at the film and responded positively. Two earlier release dates came and went, the 18th of April 2025 and the 3rd of October 2025. The premiere finally took place on the 10th of April 2026 at the Uber Eats Music Hall in Berlin. Universal Pictures released it in the UK on the 22nd of April, and Lionsgate released it in the US on the 24th of April, in IMAX. Kino Films scheduled a nationwide release in Japan for the 12th of June.

  Wednesday and Thursday night previews in the United States and Canada brought in $12.6 million. The first full day then took $39.5 million, beating Oppenheimer for the biggest opening day by a biographical film and topping every other film's opening day in 2026. The opening weekend reached $97.2 million, the best ever for a biographical or musical film. Straight Outta Compton, with $60.2 million in 2015, had held that mark. In its second weekend, the film earned $54 million, a drop of 44%, and finished behind The Devil Wears Prada 2.

  Outside North America, Michael took $18.5 million by the 23rd of April, setting first-day records for a musical biopic in numerous countries. Its international debut reached $121.6 million, for a worldwide opening of $218.8 million. IMAX screens supplied $24.4 million of that, the biggest opening ever for a musical biographical film. The film has since grossed $340 million in the United States and Canada and $510 million elsewhere. That worldwide total of $850 million makes it the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 and the third-highest-grossing biographical film of all time.

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• 7. A Divided Reception

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  Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave Michael an average grade of "A minus ". PostTrak surveys found 90% of viewers positive, with 84% saying they would definitely recommend it. Critics were much colder. Overall reviews were negative, praising Jaafar Jackson's performance while calling the story "sanitized".

  Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood was among the warmest. He wrote: "You are bound to leave this one dancing. And what is wrong with that?" Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a "surprisingly effective middle-of-the-road biopic" and said Jaafar captured the look, the voice and the moves. Abhimanyu Mathur of the Hindustan Times gave four out of five and called it "fun, soulful". He still noted pacing and structural problems, including too little focus on Michael's brothers. Nick Levine of NME gave three out of five and named the Motown 25 recreation a highlight. He described the film as "a slick, accessible advert for Jackson's incredible imperial phase". The Hollywood Reporter said fans would enjoy it but warned that the film "leaves itself open to accusations of making Michael a saint".

  Other critics were harsh. John Nugent of Empire gave two out of five and called it "a deeply generic music biopic". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also gave two out of five. He praised Jaafar's dancing and singing but called the picture "frustratingly shallow, inert". BBC reviewer Nicholas Barber gave one out of five and wrote "a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie". Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave one out of four, calling it "a filmed playlist in search of a story". Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave one out of five and called it "a ghoulish, soulless cash grab".

  The missing allegations drew the sharpest complaints. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph said the film "refused to address the elephant in the room". Kate Erbland of IndieWire called it "glossy, sanitised, and surprisingly dull". Sean Burns of WBUR-FM compared ending at the Bad World Tour to an O. J. Simpson biopic ending with the Heisman Trophy. Simran Hans of The Guardian grouped Michael with Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Elvis (2022) and Back to Black (2024) as sanitized musician biographies.

  Lawrence Ware pushed back in The Root. He argued it was unfair to expect a film about Jackson's early life to cover the allegations, and that biopics of Elvis Presley and Elton John, who also had complicated histories, faced no such demand. He concluded: "What's wrong with giving fans what they want?"

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• 8. The Sequel Question

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  During production, the team weighed splitting Michael into two films, then chose a single film that could stand alone. In post-production, they added an ending card reading "His story continues". The card could point to the rest of Jackson's career or to a sequel. In November 2025, Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson said the studio was "not ready yet to confirm plans for a second film". He added that Lionsgate was "making sure that we're in a position to deliver more Michael soon after we release the first film". Variety reported that 30% of the footage from the original three-and-a-half-hour cut could be reused in a future film.

  In April 2026, Fogelson said a sequel would depend on how the first film fared with critics and at the box office. King acknowledged the potential, and Logan was reported to be writing a script. Fuqua said enough footage had been shot to support a sequel about Jackson's later life. On the 21st of May 2026, Lionsgate announced that the sequel was in development.

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