- 11 hours ago
The highly anticipated Michael Jackson biopic is already stirring up debate behind the scenes. From casting choices and family reactions to legal battles and creative control by the estate, numerous controversies threaten to overshadow the film’s release. Dive into the drama surrounding the production, including accusations of nepotism, costly reshoots, limited press access, and criticisms from “Leaving Neverland” director Dan Reed.
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00:07welcome to ms mojo and today we're looking at why the 2026 michael jackson biopic is already
00:14generating controversy when you were there you didn't know if it was serious or not if he was
00:18joking or not or if it's a publicity stunt number 10 nepotism accusations who could play an icon
00:27like michael jackson the filmmakers decided to keep it in the family casting his nephew jafar
00:33jackson bob richardson the great dp showed me a video of him and michael on the set together
00:40but it was modern and i said well who when did you shoot a video with michael jackson
00:44he said no this is jafar and it blew my mind you couldn't tell the difference could not tell the
00:50difference based on the trailers jafar undeniably looks and sounds just like his uncle at the peak
00:55of his superstardom while this will likely be a breakout role for jafar jackson accusations of
01:01nepotism were inevitable i love challenges and i wanted to prove to myself my family and the
01:07filmmakers that i i can do this jafar has proven through his music career that he can sing and
01:14dance but this is his first major acting role one could argue that there were casting alternatives
01:19with more experience such as miles frost who won a tony for playing mj on broadway
01:25of course if jafar's acting chops are on par with his musical talents
01:29this so-called nepo baby should prove the haters wrong
01:32i had the full hair makeup and wardrobe and i had a couple moments to myself
01:36just saying like wow i'm really here there's no going back
01:40it's time to go out there and put on the best show ever
01:43number nine from the producer of bohemian rhapsody
01:46it was coming from the guy that made the howard hughes story the muhammad ali story
01:51um and kind of coming from an area of a big hollywood film
01:58um but i thought this story deserved to be told by at that level
02:04michael is from producer graham king who previously brought us bohemian rhapsody
02:08on paper that 2018 music biopic was an irrefutable success
02:13grossing almost one billion dollars and winning four oscars
02:16even its rotten tomato score is technically fresh
02:20just crossing the 60 positive threshold
02:22that score also speaks to the film's divisive nature however
02:26what are you looking at do you think you could do better
02:33everyone's a critic
02:34its harshest critics argued that bohemian rhapsody
02:37watered down freddie mercury's r-rated life with a pg-13 rating
02:42and ignored historical accuracy to an irresponsible degree
02:45at least michael's director antoine fuqua doesn't bring the same baggage as
02:49someone like brian singer still king's involvement leads many to
02:53believe michael will be bohemian rhapsody 2.0
02:56which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you ask
03:00i'm terribly sorry i i didn't mean to offend you i'm sorry
03:04i won't do that again all right
03:10let me let me get you a beer
03:11number eight limited press leading up to release
03:25based on advanced ticket sales michael is inclined to have one of the biggest opening
03:30weekends ever for a music biopic
03:32potentially exceeding 60 million dollars while lionsgate seems confident
03:37that they have a box office hit on their hands
03:39the critical response may be another story
03:41reviews already been filed if it not printed
03:44we can't take any chances the review embargo doesn't lift until april 21st at 6am pt
03:50about three days before its general release
03:53while not always indicative of a movie's quality
03:55studios typically lift an embargo sooner rather than later if they're expecting glowing reviews
04:01cast interviews have also been kept tight heading into the film's premiere
04:05that's not to say there have been no interviews
04:07but it's not like jimmy fallon is going to ask very tricky questions surrounding the film
04:11jermaine jackson is your dad yes jermaine is my father
04:15i love jermaine jackson you've got to give him my best
04:17oh absolutely i love him
04:19number seven miles teller as john bronca
04:23do you know what i'm after
04:26you want to be the biggest star in the world
04:28michael's daughter paris jackson has voiced her concerns about this biopic
04:32saying that she read an early draft and gave notes on what she felt was quote
04:36dishonest according to paris her issues weren't addressed
04:40so i just like butted out and i just like i've left it alone because it's not
04:44it's not my project so you know they're going to make whatever they're going to make
04:48beyond the script paris jackson spoke out against the casting of miles teller as
04:52entertainment attorney john bronca who now serves as a co-executor of michael jackson's estate
04:57paris argued that by casting an a-list actor like teller
05:00bronca was attempting to quote enrich and aggrandize himself
05:04we filmed at i mean at neverland it was wild
05:07wow how is it maintained has is it we well somebody else had bought it but yeah
05:14yes yeah we dressed it up
05:16bronca is also co-producing leading paris to believe that he's using his position to portray himself as
05:22quote central to the michael jackson story
05:24while paris believes many will enjoy michael that acknowledgement was not without a caveat
05:30film panders to a very specific section of my dad's fandom
05:34that still lives in the fantasy and they're gonna be happy with it
05:37number six janet jackson's reaction hey listen i heard there was some mixed reaction among the jackson
05:43family about this new michael jackson biopic what's going on here yeah there's some infighting within
05:49the jackson family here if michael is the most famous member of the jackson family
05:53his sister janet isn't far behind surprisingly janet jackson isn't in the biopic according to an
05:59insider who spoke with variety then again janet's absence makes sense considering her response to the
06:11project
06:12when the film was screened for over 60 members of the jackson family janet quote had something negative
06:18about almost every scene via one insider while the others in attendance responded more favorably
06:23janet reportedly took issue with quote the acting the makeup how the actors spoke even how they walked
06:30one source claimed that quote janet's always been insanely jealous of michael whether or not that
06:35factored into her opinion janet most notably clashed with jermaine jackson her brother and jafar's father
06:41and they said that there was a blunt exchange uh that stunned a lot of people in the room um
06:46and
06:47there's a lot of people that support each other on both sides like some people are supporting janet in
06:51this some people are supporting jermaine in this number five controlled by the jackson estate i'm smart
06:56enough to hire people who who know what they're doing um and it's important it's especially
07:03important um you know where the artist is not here to speak for themselves as mentioned john bronca is
07:10co-producing the film with accountant john mclean who's also an executor of michael jackson's estate
07:15the estate has been a driving force behind the biopic reportedly providing 10 to 15 million dollars in
07:21reshoots with the estate having so much say in the final product there are concerns that
07:26michael will play more like a commercial for jackson's music just have all these songs in my
07:31head just gotta get them out this is a recurring issue for most music biopics if you want to film
07:41about a famous singer to be commercially successful you need the rights to incorporate their songs with
07:46estates serving as gatekeepers to the music you'll likely require their approval on most creative
07:52decisions which usually entails cutting less glamorous aspects of the subject's life i need
07:57to think i told you what to think number four ongoing jackson lawsuits even in death michael jackson's
08:06name remains tied to multiple ongoing lawsuits which this biopic has only brought more press to
08:11in the 2019 documentary leaving neverland wade robson and james safe chuck accused jackson of abusing them
08:18in youth and out of all the kids in the world he chose me to be his friend and he's
08:25holding my hand
08:28within the context of what was going on it seemed normal although robson's lawsuit against jackson's
08:35estate was dismissed multiple times it found a new path forward in 2023 as of writing safe chuck
08:42versus mjj productions is expected to go to trial in november 2026 part of me is like kind of building
08:49up this strength and this shield to go through it imagining myself in trial in the seat finding the
09:00strength and fighting for little jimmy when it comes i'll be ready paris jackson has also been
09:09engaged in a legal scuffle with her father's estate citing quote irregular payments while
09:14accusing john bronca and john mclean of mishandling funds these allegations have cast a shadow over the
09:20release of michael which has an estimated budget of 155 to 200 million dollars specifically the
09:27jacksons are asking the court to reject any bonuses for attorneys that are billing an hourly rate
09:32or at least require that the siblings give their approval for that the source close to paris
09:37called the court hearing yesterday contentious but they said they feel good about how the day
09:41went they are still awaiting the judge's ruling number three what graham king means by quote
09:47unbiased they know him from the bad era on and we're going back to the roots into gary indiana
09:54and i think the young generation are going to learn a lot about michael that they didn't know
09:57graham king is well aware that jackson was quote complicated with this biopic king says that he sought to
10:04quote humanize but not sanitize and present the most compelling unbiased story based on
10:09what's been shown in the advertising though king's definition of unbiased won't necessarily align with
10:15everyone else's you really have to make sacrifices and pick and choose and obviously you want the
10:19iconic moments the film is being sold as a tribute to jackson tiptoeing around the less flattering aspects
10:25of his life even if those scandals are touched upon the film or at least its marketing seems more
10:31interested in jackson's music and often misunderstood genius maybe the trailers haven't reflected the
10:37film as a whole but if jackson's contributions to the zeitgeist completely overshadow his controversies
10:43unbiased might not be the right word to describe this approach um you know he's not been with us for
10:48a while now so it felt like let's bring him back and bring his music back and celebrate him
10:53number two reasons behind the costly reshoots we already brought up the reshoots that potentially
10:59raised the film's budget to 200 million dollars supposedly much of the third act had to be
11:04reworked due to its depiction of jordan chandler who clashed with jackson over abuse claims in 1993.
11:10i can tell you that i'm pretty sure his mother's gonna be called to testify and will be giving some
11:14very damaging evidence a settlement was reached with chandler's family in 1994. as it turns out
11:20jackson's estate wasn't legally permitted to depict chandler or his family in a dramatization requiring the
11:26filmmakers to rethink the whole ending you know tripped up because they've tried to do it using
11:31the example of the by fictionalizing the story of the first child who was paid off and it turned out
11:37they weren't allowed to do that so they're gonna have to reshoot everything on one hand you could
11:41argue that the movie at least tried to address one of the most controversial chapters in jackson's life
11:46according to leaving neverland director dan reed though the script would have taken jackson's side
11:52you know i read the scripts of the movie and they tried to tackle the allegations head-on
11:55and claim that the parents of this child were gold diggers and what have you and you know that it's
12:01it's a big 150 million dollar movie and hollywood's a powerful force
12:09before we continue check out this single from sound mojo's album balance
12:13classical music reimagined as rock hard rock and metal check out the full track and album below
12:22by his prayer i am the echo you can't outrun the jokes on you the blades begun
12:33number one response from leaving neverland director speaking of dan reed the director
12:39of leaving neverland and its 2025 sequel has perhaps been the most vocal critic of this biopic
12:46reading a draft of michael reed called the screenplay quote startlingly disingenuous
12:51but yeah the fans hold jackson in awe as a sort of god and he can do no wrong because
12:58they think well he's such a great entertainer his songs mean so much to me and so he can't
13:01have been a bad man according to reed jackson's only interactions with children in the version
13:06he read portrayed him as more of a caregiver as reed put it quote it feels like the creators
13:11of the movie have been stuck in a room with john bronca and just told what to write astonishing
13:15isn't it i mean that's because the jackson organization and the lawyers did what they do very well
13:20they said look the other way while that script likely went through some changes on its way to
13:25the screen chandler's omission further suggests that the accusations against jackson won't be the
13:30focus although jackson maintained his innocence and was acquitted reed strongly believes the whole
13:35story isn't being told people the fans accuse james and wade of being gold diggers and say it's all about
13:41the money well it is all about the money that the estate is making from jackson's work and what james
13:49and wade are saying threatens to i suppose take the shine off jackson's reputation do these controversies
13:56give you pause about michael or will you still be there opening night let us know in the comments
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