Michael Jackson is largely recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time, earning the title “The King of Pop” and becoming a significant pop culture icon. He started his career at age five singing with his brothers, the Jackson 5–this group would later be called the Jacksons due to moving labels and copyright issues. Together, they became one of the biggest pop groups in the 60’s and 70’s with Michael as the lead singer. He released his solo album “Off the Wall” in 1979, and officially left the Jackson 5 in 1984 after his release of “Thriller.” “Thriller,” released in 1982, and it would become the best-selling album of all time with over 34 million copies sold in the U.S and 70 million worldwide, going platinum over 30 times. 17 years after his death, his legacy continues with a biopic on his life releasing in theaters April 24.
“Michael, his life is epic. And to become the King of Pop, it’s an amazing journey,” director Antoine Fuqua said in the movie’s promotion video “Becoming Michael.”
The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, with Graham King, John Branca, and John McClain as producers. “Michael” has a run time of two hours and seven minutes, covering Michael Jackson’s life from the Jackson 5 era, which began in 1964, to the beginning of the “Bad” era in 1987.
“The challenge of taking on someone like Michael Jackson, it sounded fun. But then the more real it got, the more pressure I felt,” King said in the promotion video “Becoming Michael.”
Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson and nephew of Michael Jackson, is starring as his uncle in the film. In order to accurately portray Michael, Jaafar took voice and dance lessons in preparation for the role. He took his training very seriously, stating in a promo for the movie that he would dance for long hours in order to accurately complete the choreography.
“I started to rehearse for hours and hours upon hours until one single move was right. Dancing until my feet would bleed or they would go numb,” Jaafar Jackson said in “‘Michael’ (2026)- A Conversation with Jaafar Jackson.”
Michael Jackson’s own choreographers, Rich Talauega and Tone Talauega, also worked on the film to ensure every move was accurate.
“And then I had incredible guidance from Rich and Tone, who were Michael’s actual choreographers that he had on tour during the “HIStory Tour.” So we broke down, frame by frame, the “Billie Jean” performance from “Motown 25”, and that was the first set of choreography,” Jaafar Jackson said in an interview with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show.
The official trailer features several recognizable scenes from Michael Jackson’s life, including Jackson 5 performances, the 1984 Grammy’s where Michael Jackson won a record breaking 8 Grammy’s, the Pepsi co incident, his infamous 1983 Billie Jean performance, and recreations of music videos such as “Don’t Stop Til’ You Get Enough,” “Beat It” and “Thriller.”
“Michael” will feature 13 of Micheal Jackson’s songs from the Jackson 5, the Jacksons, and his solo albums. The official tracklist contains the songs “I’ll Be There”, “Never Can Say Goodbye”, and “Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson 5, “Medley: “I Want You Back”/”ABC”/ “The Love You Save (Live)” and “Ben (Live)” by the Jacksons, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Working Day and Night” from the album “Off The Wall”, “Beat It”, “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, and “Human Nature” from the album “Thriller”, and “Bad” from the album “Bad.” These songs will be depicted in the film as performances, recordings, or music videos.
The film was originally three acts, and would open with SA allegations against Jackson. The original cut was over 3.5 hours long, however, the entire third act had to be rewritten due to legal issues portraying the court cases.
According to Variety, “[Jackson] was supposed to explore the impact of the allegations on Jackson’s life, with much of its third act devoted to the scandal. But that finale was scrapped, along with any mention of the child molestation accusations, according to sources with knowledge of the production.”
Official court documents stated that media could not use anything from court as media such as the biopic. This caused several setbacks and delays to the film.
According to Variety, “… attorneys for the Jackson estate, which served as a producer, realized there was a clause in a settlement with one of the singer’s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred the depiction or mention of him in any movie.”
While many Michael Jackson fans are thrilled about the upcoming release, his family is torn between supporting and disapproving the film. Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris Jackson, stated her opinion via Instagram. She said she read the script and attempted to give feedback to the filmmakers on inaccuracies. However, they were not addressed, so she decided to not partake in the filmmaking process. She stated that the film is dishonest with false information, but she thinks his fans will still enjoy the movie.
“The thing about these biopics is there is Hollywood. So this is fantasy land. It’s not real, but it’s sold to you as real… the narrative is being controlled. And there is a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of just full blown lies,” said Paris Jackson (@parisjackson) via Instagram.
Michael Jackson’s younger sister, Janet Jackson also reportedly disapproved of the film at the family’s private screening, but there is no official confirmation of this rumor. Both Janet and Paris did not attend the official premiere.
The official “Michael” premiere took place in Berlin, Germany on April 10, 2026, and in Los Angeles, California on April 20, 2026. The cast and relatives of Michael Jackson, including his brothers Jackie, Jermaine, and Marlon, his sister La Toya, and his mother, Katherine, attended the premiere, along with his sons Prince and Bigi Jackson.
Speculation of a part 2 of “Michael” has risen among fans and has been hinted at by producers, however, there is no official confirmation of a second part. Fans predict that the continuation of “Michael” will be called “Jackson.”
