Michael Jackson Biopic Shatters Box Office Records Despite Controversy Over Portrayal
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The movie ends with an ominous “His Story Continues” title card: it’s been well-reported that the film’s plot strategically halts just short of the latter era of his fame which was largely overshadowed by the child sexual abuse accusations and subsequently cast a dark pall over his legacy. With this, the film-makers can portray Jackson as positively as possible; much like a movie of OJ Simpson that ends before the summer of 1994. That wasn’t always the plan: the original cut depicted these allegations, but were cut when film-makers realized one of his accusers had a clause in a settlement “barring any depiction or mention of him in any movie”. Cue $15m in reshoots.
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Fox News EntertainmentAfter the shooting of "Michael" was completed, producers realized they had to make a cut. The third act of the film was reportedly supposed to focus on Chandler's allegations. However, the terms of his settlement barred the Jackson estate from ever mentioning Chandler in a movie.
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The big-budget film, which faced production mishaps, brought in $97 million in the U.S. and $120.4 million overseas. The $217.4 million global opening shattered the record for a music biopic debut. However, critics slammed the film for glossing over some of the less convenient aspects of Jackson’s life. It scored 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences were far more enthusiastic. "Michael" earned an "A-" CinemaScore.
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Washington Times CultureThe biopic, which stars Jaafar Jackson — the singer’s nephew — alongside Coleman Domingo, Nia Long and Miles Teller, has drawn mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, holding a 37% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 39 out of 100 on Metacritic. Audiences, however, turned out in force: the film grossed $217 million globally in its opening weekend, a record for a music biopic.
The Guardian CultureHowever, much like Jackson’s current polarizing force in culture, it’s all a tale of contrasts. The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of a paltry 38%, compared with a 97% audience score is a rare chasm. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was one of many who lambasted the Antoine Fuqua-directed film, saying it was “bland, bowdlerised and bad”, as well as “frustratingly shallow”.
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Mr. Jackson’s estate has denied all allegations of sexual abuse against the singer. The Jackson family also released a documentary, “Neverland Firsthand: Investigating the Michael Jackson Documentary,” to rebut the claims made by Mr. Robson and Mr. Safechuck. Mr. Reed released a follow-up film, “Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson,” in the United Kingdom in 2025; it is available on YouTube.
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Fox News Entertainment2019 - "Leaving Neverland" documentary Wade Robson and James Safechuck's accusations were explored in the 2019 documentary "Leaving Neverland." In the film, both men describe in detail how they say Jackson befriended them as children and later subjected them to long-term sexual abuse. Robson and Safechuck also explained why they had previously publicly supported Jackson before coming forward with the sexual abuse claims. Jackson's estate has continued to deny the allegations.
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Dan Reed, whose 2019 HBO documentary featured Wade Robson and James Safechuck accusing Mr. Jackson of grooming and sexually abusing them as children, told Variety that Antoine Fuqua’s “Michael” fails to honestly portray the late singer or meaningfully grapple with his alleged conduct.
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The Guardian CultureThen again as Dan Reed, the director of the explosive 2019 Leaving Neverland documentary which outlined the abuse, recently told The Hollywood Reporter upon the release of Michael: “A lot of people, I think, will kind of swallow any misgivings they may have and just sort of say, ‘Oh well, it’s a great jukebox movie’ and just completely ignore the fact that this guy was worse than Jeffrey Epstein.”
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“The first part of Michael as a child, I could kind of buy that,” Mr. Reed said. “But as soon as we go to the adult Jackson, played by his nephew Jaafar, that burst my bubble. I thought, he’s a great dancer, but his performance is very wooden, and one of the reasons for that is he didn’t have much of a script to work with.”
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The Guardian CultureWhile the audience grimaced when Joe Jackson (played deftly by Colman Domingo) whips a young Jackson despite delivering a successful performance, the first big reaction came when Juliano Valdi, who plays 10-year-old Michael, records lyrics for the first time for Motown legend Berry Gordy. Fuqua drops the music to spotlight raw vocals from Valdi, who so unmistakably sounds like Jackson that the crowd audibly ooo’d at the young actor’s seemingly vocal prowess. They did the same when adult Michael, played by his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson (Jermaine’s son), sings sounding just like his iconic uncle. There were awws too, like when Jackson instinctively hugs Gordy; he’s one of the first people we see be warm with Jackson.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Fox News Entertainment The allegations involving Jordan Chandler in 1993 marked a turning point in Michael Jackson’s life and public image. Chandler alleged instances of sexual abuse in interviews with police and psychiatrists.
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02 Washington Times Culture The director of “Leaving Neverland” watched the new Michael Jackson biopic, and he didn’t hold back.
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03 The Guardian Culture On Wednesday evening, revelers gathered in the lobby of New York City’s Regal Union Square movie theater before filing into the night’s slate of Michael screenings. The King of Pop has become box office royalty after the film moonwalked into the biggest opening weekend for a biopic ever (even surpassing 2023’s Oppenheimer). Now, its success has resulted in even more attention worthy of Michael Jackson’s immense star-power, with videos circulating online of fans dancing in the aisles at screenings and a sequel likely in the works.
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04 NYT Style With a new biopic crushing at the box office, a reflection on the industry’s selective memory around MJ. Plus, cowboy Crocs.
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