The Michael Jackson biopic could be split in two

Now it’s April, and Deadline reports today that the most recent cut of Michael has clocked in at around four hours. The length of this cut has apparently sparked conversations about splitting the movie into two parts, à la recent successes Dune and Wicked, but this is far from definite. If the problem with the existing cut in January was the third act, it seems dubious that turning that issue into its own entire movie would help. But, hey, that’s for Fuqua and his team to figure out. 

In any case, Deadline reports that it seems unlikely that the film will make its slated October 3 release date, be it in one part or two. Jeff Sneider reported this morning that Michael would no longer release in 2025, which Deadline says is possible but also not definite. In Puck‘s report from January, Matthew Belloni claimed that even with the reshoots, the October release date was still the goal because Universal’s 2026 calendar was too full to move it. This also seems to cast some doubt on where they would put Michael Part Two. (Maybe they can use the Wicked format and call it Michael: Bad. Free idea!) Access to Imax screens is also apparently part of the calculus, as the film is described as “concert-like,” and if Greta Gerwig and Netflix’s current Narnia project is any indication, booking those screens requires significant lead time. Who could have guessed that making a film about one of the most famous and most controversial people to ever live would be so complicated?