The King of Pop is getting the biopic he deserves – here is what we know about Michael, coming out as part of the 2025 movie schedule.
Plenty of music icons have received the movie treatment over the last several years. We could talk about Bohemian Rhapsody and its awards, Rocketman, or maybe One Love.
But today, we are talking about the one and only Michael Jackson and the fact that he's getting the music biopic that most of us knew would happen. This is what we know so far about Michael.
What Is The Michael Release Date?
As of updating this in July 2024, Michael will be released on April 18, 2025, according to a Variety article from January. While it won't be appearing on any 2024 movie schedule, we at least know that the film will be coming next year.
There are already plenty of movies planned for 2025, from the upcoming Marvel movie releases like Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, and more, to the latest live-action Disney movie, Snow White. Having Michael join that impressive list is incredible and a little overwhelming, considering how many contenders there are for the box office already.
But, I feel it'll still be a hit no matter what – this is MJ we're talking about.
The Michael Cast
With a star-studded movie like Michael, you can only imagine what the cast will be like. Here is who we know will be in the upcoming biopic:
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson
Variety confirmed in January 2023 that Michael is keeping the casting in the family for its main star – meaning Michael Jackson's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, will portray the iconic singer.
The actor is the son of Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson's brother, and a part of the Jackson 5, which started Michael on the road to super fame in the first place. The actor even shared his excitement for the role on Twitter, saying he was "humbled and honored" to be playing his uncle.
Jackson has appeared in several music videos with his family, was featured on Jacksons: The Next Generation, and he also sings. So personally, I think this is the best decision – and I have a feeling he'll bring all of his talent to the screen.
Antoine Fuqua (who was confirmed to be directing Michael by Variety in January 2023), even commented on Jaafar Jackson's casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in August 2023, saying that the similarities between Jaafar Jackson and his uncle were "uncanny:"
It's uncanny how much he's like Michael. Sounds like him, dances like him, sings. It's really uncanny. Graham King, who is a fantastic producer, found him, and introduced him to me, and I was blown away.
Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson
In late January 2024, it was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that Colman Domingo had signed on to play Joe Jackson, the famous patriarch of the Jackson Family. Domingo had quite the 2023, appearing in The Color Purple cast, as well as the Academy-Award nominated film, Rustin. Aside from that, he’s appeared in films like If Beale Street Could Talk, Lincoln, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and more.
Domingo has even gone on record in his support of the film, specifically in an interview with Entertainment Tonight in early July 2024, saying the film will “tell the story of a very complicated person” without glamorizing the story:
[Michael will] tell the story of a very complicated person. Michael Jackson is undeniably one of the most prolific artists that has ever been on this planet. He's a complicated human being and I think what the film will do is tell the story of a very complicated person. Everyone has a story. [The film will] shine a different light on Michael Jackson.
Nia Long as Katherine Jackson
In late January 2024, Deadline announced that Nia Long would take on the role of Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother. She starred as Lisa on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and has appeared in several films like The Best Man, Big Momma’s House, and more. She also had a leading role in Empire.
Miles Teller as John Branca
The Wrap confirmed early February 2024 that Miles Teller would play John Branca, the well-known attorney of Jackson. Teller even spoke about the upcoming part with Variety (via Instagram) and how “excited” he was to play the role in such a huge film:
You only get so many opportunities in this business to make films. I'm really excited to be a part of it. I think it's going to blow people away. Regardless of what you know or what your opinion may be, Michael is one of the greatest to ever do it, if not the greatest. He deserves a movie, and I'm excited to be a part of it.
Teller has appeared in movies like Top Gun: Maverick, Whiplash, Too Old to Die Young and more. He even starred in The Offer on Paramount Plus.
Jayden Harville, Jaylen Lyndon Hunter, Judah Edwards, and Nathaniel Logan McItyre As Four Members Of The Jackson Five
Before Michael Jackson was a solo act, he was a part of The Jackson Five, a singing group made up of him and his brothers. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed in late February 2024 that all four of the other Jacksons were cast to make up the group.
Jayden Harville, Jaylen Lyndon Hunter, Judah Edwards, and Nathaniel Logan McItyre will play Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie in their younger years. The older versions of Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Jackie will be played by Jamal R. Henderson, Tre Horton, Rhyan Hill and Joseph David-Jones.
Additional Cast Members
Variety confirmed in early March 2024 that Laura Harrier will portray Suzanne de Passe, a “pioneering female music producer.”
Variety also confirmed several castings in late March 2024, including:
- Larenz Tate as Berry Gordy
- Kat Graham as Diana Ross.
- Jessica Sula as La Toya Jackson
- Liv Symone as Gladys Knight
- Kevin Shinick as Dick Clark
- KeiLyn Durrel Jones as Bill Bray
- Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones.
There was also one additional casting confirmed in April 2024 by Deadline – Derek Luke will play Johnnie Cochran, the man who repped Jackson during the 1993 child molestation case, which was a huge deal during Jackson’s time alive.
I mean, this just makes me even more excited. Can this movie get here already? This cast is awesome.
When Can We Expect The Michael Trailer?
While there isn’t a trailer yet for the movie, footage was shown at CinemaCon 2024, which CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell recapped for fans to read about. The first-look showed stretches of Jackson’s life all the way back to his time in Indiana, and then would jump to major points in his career.
With this being said, it sounds like a decent amount of the film was already completed, but there’s no trailer just yet. We’ll just have to wait and see. As of updating this in July 2024, there is still no trailer, but hopefully we’ll get something soon enough.
What Michael Will Be About
Michael Jackson has a heck of a history, from his time as a young child star in the Jackson 5 to his vast career as a soloist, releasing some of the most famous albums of all time. He's also had a lot of legal trouble as well, and several allegations thrown his way, even more than a decade after his death.
The director of Leaving Neverland had a lot of thoughts about the new biopic.
Thankfully, we have an idea of what Michael will be about, as reported by Variety when the film was confirmed to come out in 2025. The story will follow the life of Michael Jackson, from his rise to fame and the complicated life he faced, including his "personal struggles" and more, where fans will get an "inside look" into what his mind was like.
In March 2024, in a statement to Variety, Graham King, one of the producers on the movie, talked about how the film will take an unbiased look into the pop star’s life, and that while Jackson was a “complicated” person, he still had a legacy “worth exploring:”
Michael’s life was complicated. As a filmmaker, I look to humanize but not sanitize and present the most compelling, unbiased story I can capture in a single feature film and let the audience decide how they feel after watching it. Michael clearly remains an impactful, culturally relevant artist with a life and legacy worth exploring.
If the film truly is going to show everything with Michael’s life – and we already know the actors who will be playing his legal representation – I genuinely feel we are about to get a full-life biopic about this talented but complicated artist.
Antoine Fuqua Is Directing
As discussed above, Antoine Fuqua will be directing Michael. The director has been behind many popular franchises, including The Equalizer trilogy. Some of his other movies you might have heard of include King Arthur, The Guilty, The Magnificent Seven, Brooklyn's Finest, and Emancipation.
Fuqua has also worked as a producer on other films, such as Infinite and Bullet Train, so he's been all over the place regarding genre. But I feel he'll be great with Michael just from how he talks about the film in his interviews.
John Logan Wrote The Script
Something else that we know from the Variety article regarding the release date is that John Logan wrote the script for Michael.
The screenwriter is known for his writing credits on several critically acclaimed and blockbuster movies, such as Gladiator, Hugo, The Aviator, Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and two James Bond movies, Skyfall and Spectre.
With a resume like that, it's hard to imagine Michael not being a great story.
Michael Will Be Using Michael Jackson's Music
When Deadline confirmed that the movie was happening in November 2019, it was also confirmed that the Michael Jackson estate gave Graham King (one of the producers) the rights to use Jackson's music in the film – and permitted him to make the film overall.
This is a significant deal when it comes to biopics about music stars. The most prominent example I can think of is when the Elvis estate slammed the new Priscilla movie regarding the portrayal of Elvis Presley. It's almost never a seamless process when an adaptation is made regarding these famous stars, but to hear that the estate gave the studio the rights to use the music and produce the film is great. It was even confirmed at CinemaCon 2024 that there are going to be “more than 30 songs” of Jackson’s career used in the film (via The Hollywood Reporter), so get prepared to dance.
Filming Has Completed
Get ready to dance soon enough, because filming for Michael is all wrapped. As reported in the Variety article regarding the release date, Michael began production on January 22, 2024. And then in May 2024, the production studio behind the film, GK Films, posted on their Instagram that filming for the movie had come to an end:
Considering the film is set to release in 2025, this totally lines up. We know that filming was still ongoing in April due to the footage shown at 2024 CinemaCon Lionsgate Panel, so it makes sense that it’s all done now. That just means we might get a trailer soon enough.
What are you the most excited for when it comes to Michael? I will have to brush up on my Jackson playlists because I can almost feel the songs sticking in my head for hours on end.
