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An upcoming biopic about pop star Michael Jackson has to scrap and reshoot its entire third act. As currently shot, the third act detailed the1993 investigation into Jordan Chandler’s that Jackson abused him when he was 13 years old, however, it now has to be reshot because the Jackson estate “forgot” they had signed an agreement to never include the family in any projects.
According to a report from Puck News, “there’s a signed agreement with the Chandlers prohibiting any dramatization of them or their stories,” and as such, the producers now have to reshoot the entire ending of the film.
Titled Michael, the film was written by Gladiator scribe and directed by Training Day filmmaker Antoine Fuqua. Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson stars in the movie as the legendary but controversial pop star alongside Miles Teller, Colman Domingo, and Nia Long.
While Michael Jackson’s estate had previously blocked depictions of the allegations made against Jackson in previous media about his life, name Cirque du Soleil shows and the hit Broadway musical, MJ, Michael was set to address and directly engage with the allegations made against him. Now that may no longer be the case.
“The film’s third act, in particular, hinges specifically on the impact of the Chandler circus. In the script I read, a tense sequence involves Branca (Teller), Johnnie Cochran (Derek Luke), and other Jackson lawyers discussing whether to pay off Chandler and his family. At one point, the lawyers play the infamous recording, submitted in court, of Jordan’s father threatening to leverage his son’s accusations to ‘destroy’ his ex-wife and Jackson’s career. The ensuing scenes dramatize the extensive police investigation, including a ‘traumatizing’ strip search of Michael that scars him for life,” Matthew Beloni reported for Puck News.
“According to two sources, there’s a signed agreement with the Chandlers prohibiting any dramatization of them or their stories. Ouch. That deal, which was overlooked by the estate during the vetting of the script, has now rendered the planned storyline and several key scenes that were shot unusable.”
Budgeted at over $150 million, Michael was scheduled to hit theaters on October 3, 2025, which now seems unlikely given these reports.
One of the highest-selling musical artists of all-time and a winner of 13 Grammy Awards, Jackson passed away in 2009 at the age of 50 years also due to cardiac arrest caused by acute propofol intoxication.