Photo Credit: Lionsgate
The sequel to Lionsgate’s record-setting Michael Jackson biopic could start filming later this year for a 2028 release, according to studio executives.
No sooner had Lionsgate reported some serious profits last quarter, thanks in no small part to the success of Michael, than the studio announced that a sequel could begin filming in as little as a few months. The ultimate goal is for a 2028 release (or late next year), whether filming gets underway later this year or early in 2027.
That’s according to Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Chief Adam Fogelson during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. The studio waited to officially green-light the sequel, but there had been talks for months that a second and possibly even third movie was in the works.
Antoine Fuqua directed Michael, which follows the superstar’s journey from the Jackson 5 to one of the biggest celebrities on the planet. The first film stars Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, and wraps up with the Bad Tour in 1987. That’s notably a few years before the first sexual assault allegations against him.
Due to a legal dispute, the film omitted the parts that would have included those early allegations. But the movie’s final act had to be restructured and partially reshot due to attorneys for the Jackson estate discovering a clause in the settlement with one of the accusers that barred depictions of him in any film or television production.
But Fogelson confirmed that some of the material that was cut could still be reused for the sequel.
“We have a number of sequences, particularly some big musical sequences, that were shot previously, that are almost sure to be incorporated,” said Fogelson. “We are mostly focused right now on how to make sure we can deliver, at the right price, the biggest, best sequel. That is what the audience is going to want and deserve after the experience we gave them the first time.”
Lionsgate reported that its Motion Picture segment saw revenue of $587.3 million—more than double that of the same quarter last year. That was driven by the success of Michael, which moonwalked its way to becoming the highest-grossing biopic of all time, crossing the $1 billion threshold at the global box office.