Part 2 To “Michael” Movie “His Story Continues”

The self-proclaimed King of Pop proved his generational staying power again at the box office over the weekend when the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, earned a record-breaking $97 million domestically during a global launch that exceeded $217 million. The Antoine Fuqua-directed chronicle of Jackson’s life takes viewers from the singer’s humble Indiana beginnings to the peak of his stardom, briefly jumping ahead to 1988 during the singer’s Bad tour and then dipping out with a “His Story Continues” end card before the credits.

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That timeline glosses over the allegations of sexual abuse leveled against Jackson by accuser Jordan Chandler, whose case is not covered in the film, for reasons director Fuqua shared with Deadline in an interview in which he confirmed that the $200 million film underwent a costly $50 million in reshoots due to a clause in Chandler’s settlement with the Jackson estate guaranteeing that his case against the singer would never be dramatized.

Fuqua never met Jackson — who died on June 25, 2009 at age 50 of acute propofol intoxication — but was once considered to direct the “Remember the Time” video and said after reading the script for the biopic and seeing a screen test with MJ’s nephew and the film’s star, Jaafar Jackson, he was sold on the project.

Source: Billboard