‘Michael’ sequel to begin shooting later this year or 2027

The studio executive behind Michael has confirmed that a sequel is in development, and could shoot as early as this year.

The biopic of Michael Jackson, which covers his life from childhood up until the peak of his popularity in the late ‘80s, has been a box office success, breaking records for the music biopic genre with a $217million (£160million) global opening, surpassing the record set by Bohemian Rhapsody in 2019. A sequel has been rumoured ever since its release, and now there is official word that one is being developed.

On the podcast The Town With Matt Belloni, Adam Fogelson, the head of the film’s studio, Lionsgate, said that it was probable that a sequel could be shooting either this year or next, and that there is enough source material to warrant a follow-up. “There is a massive amount of music… and life experiences separate and apart from allegations… that would fill more than a second movie on its own,” Fogelson said. When asked about what could feature, he pointed to the artist’s landmark 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance as an example.

However, the production timeline remains vague due to the first movie’s director, Antoine Fuqua, already being committed to a Netflix project with Denzel Washington. “We haven’t yet gotten to the moment where we have to solve for anything,” Fogelson said.

The executive also talked about whether such a film could feature the sexual abuse allegations made against Jackson, which the artist and his estate have consistently refuted. Michael was meant to feature it as part of the storyline, but a clause in a legal settlement meant that the production spent $15million on reshoots, ending the film at a different point in his life and shifting the narrative tension onto his relationship with his father, Joe (Colman Domingo).

“It’s a really complicated question, and I’m not sure I think that I am the best person or now is the best time,” Fogelson said of whether the sequel will cover that period.

In NME’s three-star review of the movie, Nick Levine concluded: “Michael feels like a job well done: it’s a slick, accessible advert for Jackson’s incredible imperial phase. But if the singer’s estate wanna be startin’ somethin’ bigger like a film franchise, they’ll have their work cut out.”

The film’s popularity has led to audiences dancing in the aisles of cinema screens, something that has prompted annoyance from fellow cinemagoers.