That punted Michael Jackson biopic finally lands an April 2026 release date

After multiple delays—and rumors that director Antoine Fuqua's first cut came in at a beefy three and a half hours—Michael finally has a release date.

That punted Michael Jackson biopic finally lands an April 2026 release date
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Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic Michael has not had an easy go of it over the last several years, for fairly understandable reasons. The major one being that Fuqua is making the movie under the watchful eye of Jackson’s own family, who’ve officially authorized the picture—and then had to deauthorize at least a few parts of it, notably references to one of the teenagers who accused Jackson of molesting them back in the 1990s. (Apparently, keeping the boy in question’s name out of things like authorized biopics was part of Jackson’s $20 million, no-admission-of-guilt settlement with the kid back in 1994—something that only came up after the movie’s script had been approved by the family for filming.) The film has been delayed two times already, but has now, supposedly, settled on its final home on the calendar: April 24, 2026, almost exactly a year after it was originally scheduled to come out.

Admittedly, some of these delays reportedly have less to do with legal issues with the movie’s script, and more with how much of the Michael Jackson life story there was to try to shove into this thing. (Fuqua’s initial cut apparently clocked in at more than 3 and a half hours; he’s been talking continually about a second film, too.) Now, though, things have apparently been settled: The film (which stars Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, as the man himself ) has now landed the open April date for its global release.

Michael was written by John Logan, and is produced by Graham King, who previously helped turn musical biopic sludge into Oscar wins with the Queen-focused Bohemian Rhapsody. The film co-stars Colman Domingo as Jackson’s father, Joe, and Nia Long as his mother, Katherine.

 
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