Here’s something notable: new marketing materials for Antoine Fuqua‘s long-awaited Michael Jackson film (just “Michael”) are playing up a specific time frame. Phrases like “early solo career” and “this is where his story begins” stand out in both the film’s latest trailer and a brand-new poster.
On one hand, focusing on a more compact period of time in an iconic artist’s life is smart, simply for the sake of running time. On the other, well, for someone like Jackson, it offers the chance to skirt around the darker elements of his personal life. What aren’t we going to see in “Michael”? Well, considering it stars his own nephew Jaafar Jackson and is leaning so hard into the early stuff, we hazard to guess: quite a bit.
Per the film’s official synopsis, it “is the cinematic portrayal of the life and legacy of one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. The film tells the story of Michael Jackson’s life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world. Highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career, the film gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before. This is where his story begins.”
The film also stars Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Valdi, Miles Teller, and Colman Domingo, all of whom pop in its latest trailer (Domingo and Long, as Michael’s conflicted parents, really shine).
As IndieWire previously reported, the film has already endured a massive legal snafu involving a big chunk of the movie, which reportedly centered on a child molestation accuser’s lawsuit that the Jackson estate was not allowed to depict on film, forced filmmakers to completely reshoot and retool parts of the film, leading to it to be delayed for months indefinitely.
Footage from the movie was even confidently teased at CinemaCon back in 2024 but was completely absent this past spring as the movie underwent its reshoots. That wait is over now, and this film has the chance to be one of the bigger box office smashes of 2026.
Lionsgate will release “Michael” in theaters (including IMAX) on Friday, April 24.