Michael 2 | Looks like Michael Jackson biopic sequel will need a new director

Michael 2 is going to shoot in 2026, it seems, but director Antoine Fuqua is looking unlikely to return for the sequel. More here. Such is the way of the world. Had the documentary Leaving Neverland been about pretty much anyone else, the lasting consequences of it would surely still be felt. But it was ... Michael 2 | Looks like Michael Jackson biopic sequel will need a new director

Michael 2 is going to shoot in 2026, it seems, but director Antoine Fuqua is looking unlikely to return for the sequel. More here.

Such is the way of the world. Had the documentary Leaving Neverland been about pretty much anyone else, the lasting consequences of it would surely still be felt. But it was about Michael Jackson, and it’s basically been washed off every legal platform for those who want to watch it.

Meanwhile, the family-sanctioned telling of the Michael Jackson story, Michael, is raking in an absolute fortune, with not a syllable of it acknowledging the serious allegations that were levelled against its subject. It’s a very odd world.

Anyway: Lionsgate is the studio that backed Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, and it looks to be pressing ahead with its plans for a second film. There’s some confusion over this, given that there was talk of footage originally shot and reshot being skewed into a pair of movies. Instead, we’ve got the one, and the second movie will presumably have quite the legal tightrope to walk, given the assorted NDAs believed to be in place.

Lionsgate boss Adam Fogelson has now suggested the plan is to start filming in 2026, which would – assuming an untroubled post production this time – point towards a 2027 release date. That schedule is likely to knock out Antoine Fuqua as director, given his commitment to making a new Netflix-backed Hannibal film with Denzel Washington.

On The Town podcast, where Fogelson was discussing all of this, it was put to him that producer Graham King could step in as director, and that notion was not shot down by the Lionsgate chief.

The bigger challenge though is surely on the plate of write John Logan, who has to pen a screenplay covering the latter stages of Michael Jackson’s life, and in a manner that the family estate approves of.

In the meantime, here’s an interview with the director of Leaving Neverland, Dan Reed. It’s a bit of a haunting read, but it does explain why his own documentary basically disappeared, and why it’s unlikely to be legally available again until 2029.