Director Antoine Fuqua and his team stand before an immense challenge, and even higher expectations. With the trailer for Michael nestling into the title of most viewed music biopic trailer upon release, generations of fans eagerly await the retelling of a legendary life story: one that would warp the ideas of music, racial barriers and fame forever.
13 Grammy awards. 90 seconds of thunderous applause simply for his presence. The first artist to have a Top 10 hit on the Billboard charts in six different decades – all from a time with minimal to no social media. If aura was a person, it would be Michael Jackson. How do you even begin to capture the essence of such an icon?
We begin right in Michael’s bloodline: Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s real nephew, will portray him in the biopic. He will star alongside Miles Teller playing John Barca, an attorney and manager who was instrumental in elevating Jackson’s solo music career, as well as Kate Graham, playing Diana Ross: a close confidante to Jackson throughout his fame.
Production for Michael began in late 2019 and is set to release in mid 2026, with a speculated runtime of around three and a half hours. Currently, we know it will follow Michael’s journey as a young star gaining prominence in the industry as a singer the Jackson Five, to his meteoric rise in fame to the pop star we remember today, highlighting some of his iconic performances, awards and capturing the essence of his creative genius.
Curiosity has been generated since the release of the trailer of how this immense story can be packaged into a three-hour film. MJ’s story isn’t simply long, it’s dense. His legacy is essentially inseparable from personal mythology, controversies and media portrayal – no matter what lens Fuqua takes on his life, some aspects will inevitably be left out.
Other successful biopics tackle the challenge in various ways. Elvis, for example, has a narrowed focus on his key musical eras and relationships as a lens to compress the story, while Rocketman largely leans into Elton John’s inner struggles and how they affected his artistic output. It is still unclear which choice we will see in Michael. Personally, I enjoy seeing lens focused biopics, whether through a theme or a relationship, as it can highlight a person’s influence and inner conflict well (although for MJ it would definitely be appropriate to take a performance driven one as well).
Whichever approach Michael takes, you can count on me sitting in the front row when the movie is released alongside thousands of fans of all ages to honor a legendary, timeless lover of music. And that alone can tell us so much about Michael Jackson’s legacy, no biopic necessary.