Earlier this week came the teaser trailer for “Michael,” Lionsgate’s upcoming biopic about singer Michael Jackson.
The clip racked up over 30 million views in six hours, 50% more than the numbers that Lionsgate scored for the first trailer for “John Wick: Chapter 4”.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Chair Adam Fogelson revealed the news on an earnings call, where he was also asked to provide an update on whether a second film was still in the works.
The studio had to famously break up the film into two parts – partly because of the original cut’s 3.5-hour length, but also because footage was shot centring around one of Jackson’s accusers.
A settlement with the singer’s estate guaranteed they’d never be dramatised, but the Jackson estate reportedly overlooked this detail when putting the film into development. Since then, reshoots have been done to fix this. Fogelson responded:
“Since the last time we worked together on an earnings call, we’ve had the great pleasure of seeing the director’s cut of the first film, and it is exceptional. While we’re not yet ready to confirm plans for a second film, I can tell you that the creative team is hard at work making sure that we’re in a position to deliver more Michael soon after we release the first film.”
Antoine Fuqua helms and Graham King produce the film, which is scheduled for an April 24th 2026, theatrical release.
Source: Deadline
