Michael Jackson Biopic ‘Doubtless’ Delayed by a 12 months After Information of Main Reshoots

The upcoming Michael Jackson biopic is unlikely to hit theaters earlier than the top of 2025, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer mentioned on Thursday, Might 22.

“In regard to our Michael Jackson biopic, we’re excited in regards to the 3½ hours of fantastic footage from producer Graham King and director Antoine Fuqua, and we can be asserting a definitive launch technique & timing within the subsequent few weeks,” Feltheimer mentioned in the course of the studio’s This fall 2025 earnings name, per Variety and Indiewire. 

Feltheimer mentioned it was “doubtless” the studio must transfer the movie, titled Michael, out of the 2025 fiscal yr, “which is able to affect fiscal ’26 monetary outcomes however will bolster an already robust fiscal ’27 slate.”

Lionsgate’s fiscal yr ends on March 31, 2026, that means Michael won’t hit theaters till after April 2026. 

Later, Lionsgate movie chief Adam Fogelson confirmed throughout a name after the quarterly earnings name that Michael can be break up into two components, per Deadline.

Lionsgate didn’t instantly reply to PEOPLE’s request for remark.

In late January, Puck reported that Michael will need to be overhauled during reshoots after attorneys realized of a clause in a settlement settlement between Jackson and considered one of his accusers. 

In 1993, Jackson was accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. The musician, who died in 2009 at age 50, and the Chandler household reached a settlement out of courtroom, reportedly for $25 million. In keeping with Puck’s sources, the settlement specified that the Chandlers may by no means be talked about or dramatized in a film. The outlet reported that John Logan’s script featured the Chandler state of affairs and the settlement was neglected when the screenplay was beforehand vetted and authorised.

“The Michael Jackson biopic isn’t in complete chaos,” a supply near the manufacturing instructed PEOPLE on Jan. 24. “The inflammatory headlines in regards to the transferring halting are merely not true. The movie is transferring ahead, and reshoots are occurring in March.”

Spokespersons for Lionsgate (the movie’s distributor), producer King and lawyer Jonathan Steinsapir (who represents the Jackson property) didn’t reply to PEOPLE’s requests for remark in regards to the stories in January.

Lionsgate featured Michael in its 2024 CinemaCon presentation, however didn’t present any footage this yr, regardless of principal images already being accomplished in Might 2024. The movie was scheduled for April 18, 2025, however was then pushed to Oct. 3, 2025, in November. In April, Variety reported Michael was unlikely to be launched on that day because of the reshoots, including that it could be break up into two films.

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The Jackson property has repeatedly denied abuse accusations made in opposition to the late singer, who was acquitted of kid molestation costs in 2005. Extra allegations have been aired within the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, prompting an ongoing legal battle.

Michael is directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King. Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, performs the singer. Coleman Domingo and Nia Lengthy play Jackson’s dad and mom, Joe and Katherine Jackson, whereas Miles Teller performs Branca.