Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson will portray the king of pop
The Michael Jackson biopic Michael will hit theaters on April 18, 2025, the film’s distributor Lionsgate announced on Thursday, with Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson set to portray the King of Pop in the movie.
Antoine Fuqua, director of the Equalizer trilogy as well as the films Emancipation and Southpaw among others, was tapped to direct the biopic last year. The film has the Jackson estate’s approval, and Graham King — who produced the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, is co-producing Michael alongside John Branca and John McClain, the executors of Jackson’s estate. John Logan, the screenwriter behind Gladiator, Rango and Hugo, wrote the film’s screenplay.
“‘Michael’ will bring audiences a riveting and honest portrayal of the brilliant yet complicated man who became the King of Pop,” the film’s synopsis reads. “The film presents his triumphs and tragedies on an epic, cinematic scale — from his human side and personal struggles to his undeniable creative genius, exemplified by his most iconic performances. As never before, audiences will experience an inside look into one of the most influential, trailblazing artists the world has ever known.”
Jackson remains one of the best-selling and most influential artists of all time, though his career was riddled with controversy. It remains to be seen how the Jackson estate-approved project will handle the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse that surfaced against Jackson both while he was alive and after he died, if the film addresses those controversies at all. Jackson and his estate have repeatedly denied the allegations, which were the subject of renewed scrutiny after the release of the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland.
