The Quick Version
- “Michael,” the long awaited Michael Jackson biopic starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, is finally reaching theaters after repeated delays and a director change partway through production.
- The film covers Jackson’s rise from the Jackson 5 through his solo superstardom, and arrives with plenty of built in controversy about how honestly it handles the darker chapters of his life.
Few music biopics have had a rockier road to the screen than “Michael.” Originally slated for release years earlier, the film about Michael Jackson’s life and career pushed its date back more than once, cycled through edits, and became the subject of nonstop speculation about how it would handle the parts of Jackson’s story that a family sanctioned production might want to soften. Now that it is actually reaching theaters, the real question is whether it lives up to either the hype or the scrutiny.
Casting Jackson’s Own Nephew
The film’s boldest choice was casting Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew and the son of Jermaine Jackson, in the lead role. The physical resemblance alone made headlines the moment the first images leaked, but the casting also raised the stakes for the production. A family member playing family history invites a different kind of scrutiny than a hired actor would, particularly around whether the portrayal leans protective rather than honest.
What the Film Covers
“Michael” traces Jackson’s career from his childhood years fronting the Jackson 5 in Gary, Indiana through the “Thriller” era that made him the biggest pop star on the planet. Musical biopics live or die on their concert and studio recreation sequences, and early marketing has leaned heavily into recreated performances, suggesting the production invested real money in getting the choreography and stagecraft right rather than treating the music as a backdrop to the drama.
The Elephant in the Room
No conversation about this film happens without addressing how it handles the child sexual abuse allegations that shadowed the back half of Jackson’s life and career. The production has faced pointed questions from entertainment journalists about whether the film engages with those allegations directly or minimizes them in service of a more celebratory narrative. Reasonable viewers land in very different places on how a biopic should handle a subject’s most serious controversies, and this film will likely become a case study in that debate regardless of which way it leans.
Where and How to See It
“Michael” is playing in wide theatrical release, meaning it should be showing at most major multiplex chains including AMC, Regal, and Cinemark locations. Given the film’s musical sequences and concert recreations, this is a movie that rewards a proper theater sound system over a laptop screen, so catching it during its opening weeks in a premium format like IMAX or Dolby is worth the extra ticket cost if your local theater offers it.
What to Do Before You Go
If you want context going in, several documentaries and archival specials on Jackson’s career are already available on major streaming platforms and make for useful pre reading, particularly for viewers who only know the highlight reel version of his catalog. Just be prepared for a biopic that, like most in the genre, compresses timelines and streamlines relationships for narrative pace rather than strict accuracy.
What the Numbers Will Say
Studios rarely admit it outright, but a film with this much production history and this much built in audience curiosity carries real box office pressure. Early tracking suggested strong opening weekend interest driven by casual fans who grew up on Jackson’s music rather than devoted biopic watchers, which is usually a good sign for a film’s ability to cross over. How the movie performs in its second and third weekends, after the reviews and word of mouth settle in, will say more about its staying power than the opening numbers alone.
Whatever your position on how the film handles Jackson’s legacy, “Michael” is shaping up to be one of the most discussed movies of the year, and one that Black film audiences in particular are likely to have strong, divided opinions about walking out of the theater.
