The Michael Jackson Biopic Spent $15m On Reshoots To Remove All References To Allegations Of Child Sexual Abuse

The Michael Jackson estate stumped up the cash for a 22 day reshoot after discovering they were legally forbidden from addressing the issue.

We should probably hope that Michael, the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic from director Antoine Fuqua, is a goddamn train wreck. I say that because if it’s actually good, it’ll be one of the most shameless acts of self-serving hagiography since… well, the recent release of Melania means not that long ago, but if you remove that outlier, a long, long time. It’s obviously a naked exercise in reputation repair in any case, more so than any recent biopic that comes to mind.

But at one point it was at least going to address the numerous allegations of child sexual abuse made against Jackson. According to a new report in Variety, that’s no longer the case, with his estate footing the US 15 million dollar bill for a 22 day reshoot that reconfigured the film’s entire third act.

According to the article, the film “…was supposed to begin in medias res with one of the darkest chapters of the singer’s life. In one scene from the film’s original script, the King of Pop stares at his reflection in the mirror, capturing his sorrowful gaze as police car lights flash behind him. It’s 1993, a decade after ‘Thriller’ gripped the culture, and Jackson has just been accused of child molestation.”

But lawyers for the Michael Jackson estate discovered a binding clause in a settlement with Jordan Chandler, one of several people who accused Jackson of sexual abuse, forbade them from portraying or mentioning Chandler in a movie.

As a result, not only was that opening sequence scrapped, but so too was the back third of the film. Originally, the final act was supposed to deal with the allegations in detail, albeit from Jackson’s point of view. It will now reportedly finish during the 1987 – 1989 Bad World Tour, with MJ at the height of his popularity and no awful allegations in sight.

However, Variety also goes on to say that producer Graham King was already considering a sequel. The original cut clocked in at three and a half hours, and it’s estimated that 30% of the material excised from the film could be plugged into a follow up. Of course, how you’d do a sequel without addressing the big paedo elephant in the room is a fraught question, but the drift seems to be to focus on his music, his acquisition of Neverland Ranch, and his love of animals. Righto.

Starring Michael Jackson’s nephew, Jafaar Jackson, in the title role and Colman Domingo as his father, Joe, Michael is in Australian cinemas from April 22.