'Michael' the biopic headed for the big screen

[soulmum]

#BreakingNews The Graham King-produced #MichaelJackson biopic project is seeing its worldwide distribution rights snapped up by Lionsgate. King will produce with John Branca and John McClain, the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate.
Deadline first told you about the project, penned by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan, back in November 2019. Michael still is moving forward with Logan’s script.
Oscar-winning The Departed producer King will produce with John Branca and John McClain, the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate. King and Logan previously collaborated on Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator. Logan also wrote Ridley Scott’s Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator.
Michael is set to be an in-depth portrayal of a complicated man who became the King of Pop. It will bring to life Jackson’s most iconic performances as it gives an informed insight into the entertainer’s artistic process and personal life.
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake said: “I am very excited that Lionsgate will be part of this epic film, and thrilled to be working with Graham, who has proven success in telling iconic life stories, from Bohemian Rhapsody to Ali; when combined with John, we couldn’t be in more extraordinary hands.”
Added King: “I first met the Jackson family in 1981 and I’m humbled to bring their legacy to the big screen. Sitting at Dodger Stadium watching the Victory Tour, I could never have imagined that nearly 38 years later I would get the privilege to be a part of this film.”
Said Katherine Jackson. “Ever since Michael was little, as a member of The Jackson 5, he loved the magic of cinema. As a family, we are honored to have our life story come alive on the big screen.”
Jackson is one of the biggest-selling artist of all time, with an estimated sales of 400 million records around the globe. He counts 13 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era, and was the first artist to have a top-10 single on that chart in five different decades. His honors include 15 Grammy wins, 6 Brit Awards, a Golden Globe and 39 Guinness World Records including Most Successful Entertainer of All Time. His inductions include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice), the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Dance Hall of Fame (the only recording artist to be inducted) and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
King’s cinematic canon counts 71 Oscar nominations. He received a Best Picture Oscar nomination for producing Bohemian Rhapsody, which minted $911M at the global box office and notched star Rami Malek an Oscar for his turn as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. King recently produced Sandra Bullock’s The Unforgivable, which became one of the top-viewed films on Netflix. His passion for telling real-life stories has resulted in several critically and commercially successful films, including Ali, Argo and The Aviator, among many others. He is currently developing the story of the Bee Gees for the big screen at Paramount.
In addition to his Oscar-nominated work, Logan’s other movies include Skyfall, Hugo, The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday and Sweeney Todd. He won the Tony for his play Red and wrote the book for the Best Musical Tony winner Moulin Rouge. He is represented by CAA.
Source : Anthony D'Alessandro for deadline

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

MJJJusticeProject #1Billion4MJ
@MJJJusticePrjct
a little more re: biopic "Michael" showbiz411 - https://showbiz411.com/2022/02/07/micha ... gan-script "[King] had done 5 yrs of research about Jackson and does NOT believe the accusation of pedophilia [..]movie will not whitewash but be clear eyed in its approach" YASS we need Michael Jackson FACTS presented.

[soulmum]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... alive.html

Michael Jackson's mom Katherine says family is 'honored' as Liongate picks up King of Pop biopic
By MARK MCGREAL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and CHARLOTTE DEAN FOR MAILONLINE and MELISSA KOENIG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 01:13 GMT, 8 February 2022

Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, will have his life reenacted in an upcoming biopic titled Michael.

Lionsgate has picked up distribution rights for the film, which was written by Gladiator writer John Logan, according to Deadline on Monday.

The publication reported that the film will be 'an in-depth portrayal of a complicated man who became the King of Pop.'



Michael is being made with the blessing of the deceased pop star's estate, and his mother Katherine Jackson seems considerably excited about it.

'Ever since Michael was little, as a member of The Jackson 5, he loved the magic of cinema,' she said. 'As a family, we are honored to have our life story come alive on the big screen.'

ackson has sold more than 400 million records worldwide. He won 15 Grammys, a Golden Globe and he was inducted into the Rock and Rolle Hall of Fame twice.

The Thriller singer has also been the focus of controversy for decades and even more so in recent years.


Distributor: Lionsgate picked up distribution rights for the film, which was written by Gladiator writer John Logan, Deadline reported (pictured 1992)



https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mo ... 337492.mp4

in 1993, Los Angeles police announced they were investigating claims that Jackson molested four children.

Those allegations were once again brought to light in a 2019 four-hour HBO documentary, during which James Safechuck, who met the singer in 1986 when he was only 10 years old, and Wade Robson offered explicit details about the years-long abuse they say they suffered at the hands of Jackson, during which the singer would allegedly gain favor with the boys' families by arranging for them to travel with him.

They said they were molested by the singer in his expansive Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara County, California — and at one point the King of Pop even staged a mock wedding complete with vows and a diamond ring with Safechuck.

'Michael tried to penetrate me in my anus with his penis, trying for a while, and I guess was able to a bit, but it was really painful, too painful for me, so he stopped,' Robson said, adding that he was 14 at the time.

Police later arrested Jackson on child molestation charges on November 20, 2003 after he was indicted on 10 criminal counts, including child molestation, abduction, false imprisonment and extortion. He was eventually acquitted in 2005, and died in 2009 at the age of 50.

With the Jackson family's involvement in the project, it's unclear if the film will touch upon the allegations at all.

A Michael Jackson musical titled MJ came out late last year, and a number of critics lambasted the show for skipping over that chapter of Jackson's life.

Many of the reviews — including one for the New York Times — mentioned the fact that Jackson's estate were involved in producing what was essentially an 'authorized autobiography', which is why the story featured such watered-down references.

As one review from Deadline read, 'Within the musical's universe, the closest MJ comes to confronting the topic is a vague reference to a family being invited on tour with the singer, but even that comment is open to interpretation: Is the business associate raising the issue merely worried about the expense of additional people on tour, or is he fretting about putting a young boy in such close proximity to the star? Is the reference's sense of foreboding rooted in concern for victims of child abuse, or for a victim of scheming blackmailers? MJ's unspoken response: Decide for yourself.'
https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/video/mo ... 240171.mp4

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

#BreakingNews Antoine Fuqua To Direct Michael Jackson Biopic For Lionsgate; John Logan Scripting & ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King Producing With Estate.
EXCLUSIVE: Antoine Fuqua is set to direct Michael, a Lionsgate drama telling the complex life story of the iconic singer Michael Jackson. A script is in by John Logan, and the film will be produced by Graham King, who turned the Freddie Mercury Queen story into the blockbuster Oscar Best Picture-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody. GK Films will produce alongside the co-executors of Jackson’s estate, John Branca and John McClain.
Turning Mercury’s complicated rise, fall and triumphant comeback into a film that won Best Actor for Rami Malek might have been an easier task than the moonwalking over landmines that will have to be done with Jackson’s story. Anyone who has seen the job that Fuqua did on the Will Smith-starrer Emancipation might come away believing he hit a high-water mark as a filmmaker because of his unflinching telling of an often brutal story of the escaped enslaved man Joseph.
This has long been a passion project for King and Logan, who teamed on the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese-directed Howard Hughes film The Aviator and his race to innovate before his mental illness and germophobic obsessions overtook him. Sources tell us that the film will undoubtedly make the most of Jackson’s musical accomplishments and re-creation of seminal career highlights beginning with the days he fronted The Jackson 5 as a child to his hitmaking work as the biggest musical star in the world as an adult. But it will also deal squarely with the pedophile accusations that dogged his later years up to his death in 2009 at age 50, from cardiac arrest caused by a cocktail of sedatives.
Things are moving fast on Michael. Fuqua is currently finishing The Equalizer 3 with Denzel Washington in Italy, and then he will turn his attention to this one. Production will begin later this year, and we’ve heard that Fuqua will draft his Emancipation and Equalizer 3 cinematographer Robert Richardson to be by his side.
The hope is that Michael will be a global juggernaut like Bohemian Rhapsody, which grossed over $900 million worldwide and created a new appetite for the music of Queen. Lionsgate has world rights here but will seek an offshore partner, and we’ve heard Sony is squarely in the mix. That studio turned into a hit the 2009 docu This is It, comprised of footage of Jackson rehearsing for a series of London concerts when he died.
Jackson’s emergence as King of Pop was filled with unprecedented achievement, including being really the first Black singer to crack the regular rotation of videos on MTV; his introduction of the moonwalk while performing “Billie Jean” on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever TV special in 1983; the incredible production values of the videos for “Thriller,” “Billie Jean” and other songs; and setting all kinds of records for sales and accolades.
On the other side of the coin, Jackson grew up bullied by his father Joe, the domineering Jackson 5 manager who drove his kids hard as they emerged from Gary, Indiana to become pop sensations as children, anchored by Michael’s golden voice. Michael Jackson bettered his career as he grew to adulthood, but this was accompanied by odd behavior that included sleepovers of young male children at his Neverland Ranch. Long dismissed as some kind of Peter Pan syndrome, that habit took a more sinister connotation when some of the boys claimed they had been molested, with a litany of lawsuits. There was also the plastic surgery, which transformed his face dramatically. We’ve heard theories that Jackson’s motivation might have been a wish not to see a resemblance to his father when he looked in the mirror, but certainly some of this came after he suffered damage when he was set ablaze in a pyrotechnic malfunction during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984 that required reconstructive scalp surgeries and was his introduction to painkillers.
Just as the recent Whitney Houston film I Wanna Dance With Somebody and the Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis (the latter of which leaned into the singer’s co-dependent relationship with greedy, parasitic manager Colonel Tom Parker), the drama will come from balancing the sides of Jackson’s life and please his fans, as well as standing up and not seeming like a whitewash. We’ve heard the film might start later in his life, and then look back on the upbringing that forged his incredible talent and work ethic, along with the damage it inflicted that ultimately makes Jackson a tragic musical figure.
“Antoine is a perceptive and powerful filmmaker, and we feel very fortunate that he has chosen Michael as his next project. His visionary storytelling skills and commitment to his craft will make Michael an unforgettable film,” said Joe Drake, chair of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
Said King: “Antoine’s films provide personal perspectives of larger-than-life characters that continuously captivate global audiences. I’m confident that Antoine will make an exceptional and compelling film that will both celebrate and give profound new insights into the life of the King of Pop.”
Fuqua, who early in his career directed videos with the likes of Prince, Lil’ Wayne, Toni Braxton and Stevie Wonder before his film breakthrough on Training Day, will get to lean back in as he created the King of Pop’s most iconic stage and performance moments.
“The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” said Fuqua. “For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV. His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.”
Fuqua is repped by LBI Entertainment and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
Source : Justin Kroll, Mike Fleming Jr for Deadline
https://deadline.com/.../michael-jackson-antoine.../...

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

https://www.nme.com/news/film/michael-j ... ua-3383202

Michael Jackson biopic recruits ‘Training Day’ director Antoine Fuqua
“For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson"

By
Damian Jones
18th January 2023



Antoine Fuqua has confirmed he will be directing the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

The film – titled Michael – previously saw Bohemian Rhapsody‘s Graham King come on board to produce the film alongside John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of Jackson’s estate.

The screenplay is being written by John Logan (Gladiator, Skyfall), who previously worked with King on Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator (2004).
Now Fuqua, who previously directed Training Day, The Equalizer trilogy and more recently Emancipation, has confirmed he is on board.

“The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” said Fuqua in a statement via The Hollywood Reporter.
“For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV. His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.”

Lionsgate will handle domestic distribution the biopic and will seek an international partner for the feature.

“Michael will give audiences an in-depth portrayal of the complicated man who became the King of Pop. It will bring to life Jackson’s most iconic performances as it gives an informed insight into the entertainer’s artistic process and personal life,” according to a description of the film.

The involvement of Jackson’s estate in the project suggests that the movie won’t deal with the allegations of child sexual abuse that were levelled against the singer during his career and after his death in 2009. But according to Lionsgate, the film will address all aspects of Jackson’s life.

Back in 2019, the four-hour documentary Leaving Neverland included testimony from James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who both claimed they were sexually abused by Jackson as children in the 1990s.

Michael Jackson denied any wrongdoing prior to his death aged 50.

Meanwhile, the late singer’s estate recently paid tribute to Lisa Marie Presley following her death last week.

[soulmum]

“Jaafar embodies my son. It’s so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers” - Katherine Jackson





Taj Jackson
@tajjackson3

They found the perfect and only person who could play my uncle in this Biopic . I cried with pride after seeing Jaafar’s makeup/hair screen test yesterday. Not only did he embody Michael Jackson…he had the tone, voice cadence, the mannerisms, EVERYTHING!

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

D.R. is worried I think.

‘Leaving Neverland’ Director Condemns New Michael Jackson Biopic

deadline.com
‘Leaving Neverland’ Director Condemns New Michael Jackson Biopic
Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed says Michael Jackson biopic will glory a man who abused children.

Replying to
@DEADLINE
Alternative Headline: Pro-Pedophilia Propagandist, Pissed that Not ONE New Michael Jackson Accuser Came Forward After HBO Green-lit His Movie For Political Reasons, Lashes Out Fecklessly at the Idea of the Other/Truthful Side Finally Being Fully Heard by a HUGE Audience




Ace
@ace_venturistic

Replying to
@DEADLINE
The producer Graham King has said they will cover the allegations in the biopic. He researched the case for years and reached the same conclusion as the court - not guilty. Stop ignoring the fact that his accusers have been caught fabricating lies, exposed as frauds.

[soulmum]

[soulmum]

andjustice4some - Fan account for Michael Jackson
@andjustice4some

"The production will have a cast of 65 and 300 crew members, and is expected to film over 80 days in California, primarily in Santa Barbara."