Who’s Bad? Not Michael Jackson in new big-budget biopic

LOS ANGELES – A new Michael Jackson biopic is arriving in cinemas telling the story of the King of Pop’s early career, but it is a tightly controlled story that avoids any reference to the child sex abuse allegations that dogged the American singer’s later life.

Titled Michael and beset by production and legal problems, it spans his childhood in Gary, Indiana, and climaxes with the moonwalking megastar performing in London during his Bad World Tour in 1988.

Distributor Lionsgate is hoping for global revenues of US$700 million (S$890 million) from a production budget of US$200 million, which would push it close to the US$910 million earned by Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018 – a record for a musical biopic.

Made by producer Graham King, who was also involved in the Freddie Mercury biopic, Michael features Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the main role. The 29-year-old had no previous acting experience but was helped with the dancing by his uncle’s real-life choreographers.

“This being the first time that I’ve ever got into acting and to be able to portray my Uncle Michael, it’s so surreal,” Jaafar said at the Los Angeles premiere.

“I’m still taking it in and not really realising how much it’s going to hit me or when it’s going to hit me. But, you know, it’s incredible.”

The son of Jermaine Jackson, 71, delivers a strong performance as the gloved singer, while the concert scenes are sure to delight fans of the Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987) albums.

Jaafar naturally won praise from his uncles, who highlighted the acting newcomer’s “wonderful job” in portraying a figure they knew with an intimacy few others shared.

“When I watch the movie, I think I’m watching Michael on the stage... It brings tears to my eyes,” Jackie Jackson, 74, said.

Marlon Jackson – another member of the Jackson 5, the youth group where Michael got his start as an artiste – reflected on how the film might offer a window into the famous family’s home life.

“I think people understand and realise that the Jackson family is no different from any family. We go through our trials and tribulations, ups and downs, but we learn to agree to disagree,” the 69-year-old said.

All the surviving Jackson siblings are credited as executive producers, meaning they all had a right to review the film, which opens in Singapore cinemas on April 23.

But their involvement has led to accusations that the film sugarcoats the image of a man who was dogged by sexual abuse allegations before his death by overdose in 2009, aged 50.

His daughter Paris, who was not involved, has been one of the most outspoken critics.

“A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in the fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it,” the actress-singer wrote on Instagram in September 2025.

“The narrative is being controlled, and there’s a lot of inaccuracy and just full-blown lies.”

A third of the original film exploring allegations against the star had to be cut and re-shot.

Film publication Variety reported that lawyers for the Jackson estate realised there was a clause in a settlement with one of the singer’s accusers, Jordan Chandler, that barred any mention of him in a film.

Although Jackson was never convicted in criminal or civil court, other alleged victims filed lawsuits after his death, several of which are still active.

Michael was originally scheduled for release on April 18, 2025, before being pushed back by a year.

Several documentaries, including 2003’s Living With Michael Jackson and 2019’s Leaving Neverland, focused on his habit of inviting children to spend nights with him.

“I would love that the film tell the most human story about Michael Jackson possible,” said academic Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University.

“But I also realise that we’re in a period of time where Hollywood does not deal with celebrities in that way.”

The film is almost certain to give another boost to the money-spinning family franchise.

MJ: The Musical opened on Broadway in 2022 and has been staged in other countries, while the Cirque du Soleil production Michael Jackson ONE has been running in Las Vegas since 2013. AFP