Two Michaels for the price of one? More like two Michael Jackson biopics for the price of approximately three Bohemian Rhapsodys. Michael, the Antoine Fuqua–directed film about the life of Michael Jackson, may be getting the Deathly Hallows treatment. According to Variety, this bifurcation will likely result in the film’s current release date of October 3 being pushed back.
Michael has been in limbo since January, when Puck reported the film’s entire third act had to be rewritten and reshot. According to Matt Belloni, the third act had been about the Chandler family’s accusation of child molestation against Jackson in 1993. The film allegedly would have represented the Chandler family as “money-grubbing,” but legally they can’t be represented onscreen at all. Reportedly as part of a settlement they signed in the ’90s, the Chandlers cannot have their story dramatized. The Jackson estate is paying for reshoots on the $155 million movie.
Michael will star Jackson’s nephew Jaafar. Colman Domingo and Nia Long will play his parents. Miles Teller will play the Jackson estate’s lawyer, John Branca. Other characters include Motown founder Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate), music exec Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier), and Diana Ross (Kat Graham).