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Lionsgate recently announced a slate of upcoming films at CinemaCon, including a fourth installment of "Now You See Me" and an expansion plan for the "John Wick" universe with a fifth film, a prequel, and a Donnie Yen spinoff. However, industry watchers were surprised that the studio made no mention of "Michael," its $150 million Michael Jackson biopic. The film is currently slated for an October 3rd release, and for a movie of this scale, a marketing campaign should already be underway. The silence has led many in the media to speculate that "Michael," which has already been delayed once, may be pushed back to next year.
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The biggest hurdle "Michael" currently faces is the need to reshoot the entire third act, which deals with the child molestation allegations against Jackson. Reports emerged in January that after filming had wrapped, the Jackson estate suddenly recalled a years-old agreement with the family of one of the accusers, which stipulated that members of the Chandler family could not be dramatized in future biopics. The original third act was centered around this very storyline. Director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter John Logan have been forced to rewrite a large portion of the script and plan extensive reshoots. These reshoots are reportedly still not complete, casting serious doubt on whether the film can make its October release date.
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Furthermore, Deadline recently reported that the current cut of "Michael" runs nearly four hours long. Lionsgate is now considering whether to follow the model of the recent "Wicked" and split the film into two parts to present the story more completely to a global audience. However, it remains unknown whether the reshot version will be longer or more condensed, and if it will still contain enough material to support a two-film release.
"Michael" is produced by "Bohemian Rhapsody" Oscar-winner Graham King. The film stars Michael's real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, as the King of Pop, with Colman Domingo as his father, Joe Jackson, Nia Long as his mother, Katherine Jackson, and Miles Teller as the co-executor of his estate, John Branca. Universal Pictures is handling international distribution.
via： Deadline