Troubled Michael Jackson Biopic Michael Gets A Teaser Trailer

A big, splashy, stupid biopic about an ’80s pop superstar hit theaters last month. It was called Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, and I saw it. But we were supposed to get two big, splashy, stupid biopics about ’80s pop superstars in October. For a very long time, Training Day director Antoine Fuqua has been hard at work on the Michael Jackson movie Michael, with Michael’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the titular role. Thanks to a ton of expensive problems that honestly should’ve been very preventable, the film didn’t make it into theaters on its announced release date. Instead, Michael is now due to arrive next April, and we’re getting our first look at it today.

Earlier this year, we learned that the already-produced final act of Michael turns out to be legally impossible. Michael Jackson’s estate was heavily involved in production of the film, and the final part reportedly revolved around Jackson’s conversations with his lawyers over whether or not to pay off the family of Jordan Chandler, a 13-year-old boy who accused Jackson of sexual abuse. Jackson’s lawyer John Branca, one of the executors of his estate, is one of the film’s producers, and Miles Teller plays him in the movie.

But Jackson’s out-of-court settlement with the Chandler family reportedly prohibited any dramatic depiction of that legal battle, which Lionsgate only learned after the $150 million production finished shooting. A few months ago, Lionsgate delayed the release publicly considered splitting Michael into two movies, and the trailer doesn’t offer any indication of whether that happened.

In the glitzy teaser, we get a great many images of Jaafar Jackson as his uncle, often hitting iconic moves and poses. He really does look like the guy. We also get brief glimpses of Colman Domingo as his father Joe Jackson, Nia Long as his mother Katherine, and Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones. See it for yourself below.

Michael arrives in theaters 4/24 via Lionsgate. I’ll be there! I’ll probably write about it, too! Be prepared for the semi-inevitable moment when I decide that it’s actually good for some reason and you get really mad while reading my review.