The first trailer has been released for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael – check it out below.
The film will see the King of Pop’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson take on the title role, while Oscar nominee Colman Domingo will play his father, Joe Jackson. It will hit the big screen on April 24, 2026.
Antoine Fuqua, the filmmaker behind Training Day and The Equalizer, will direct Michael, while John Logan (Gladiator, Skyfall) serves as screenwriter. Nia Long (Empire, Boyz n the Hood) will play Jackson’s mother Katherine, while Miles Teller will portray John Branca, the lawyer and manager who is the co-executor of the Jackson estate and a producer on the film.
The trailer sees Jackson in the studio with Quincy Jones as they prepare to lay down a take of a song apparently from the ‘Thriller’ era, interspersed with glimpses of him on stage and dealing with the adulation of fans. Watch here:
The official synopsis reads: “Michael explores the global superstar’s journey to become known to the world as the King Of Pop, presenting an intimate look at the life and enduring legacy of one of the most influential, trailblazing artists the world has ever known”.
It arrives 17 years after Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50. The cause of death was acute propofol intoxication, while the Los Angeles County coroner ruled the death as a homicide, and Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the artist’s death.
The film has already attracted some criticism, including from Dan Reed, the director of the documentary Leaving Neverland, which documented allegations of sexual abuse against Michael. Reed criticised the making of the new biopic, saying it “will glorify a man who raped children”.
Reed later said he had read a draft of the script in which the men who made the allegations in Leaving Neverland were discredited. “Jackson is only ever seen caring for children with childhood cancer, or dancing with a little girl in a wheelchair, or tucking up multiple little boys, mostly his nephews, at sleepovers,” Reed said of the script. “It feels like the creators of the movie have been stuck in a room with John Branca and just told what to write.”
Reports emerged at the start of this year that the film had been delayed after they were forced to reshoot the third act due to its unsanctioned portrayal of the Jordan Chandler case.
Domingo has defended the project, saying that “everyone has a story to tell”. He said the film will look at the “complex human being” behind the star.
Elsewhere, the BBC recently revealed that it had ordered a new documentary charting the abuse allegations against Jackson, with the working title Legacy: Michael Jackson. The three-part series will explore “the abuse allegations and enduring legacy of one of the most successful pop stars of all time”.
