November 6, 2025 dropped a cultural bombshell that has the internet more divided than a 2024 election. The first official trailer for Michael, Antoine Fuqua’s highly anticipated and deeply controversial biopic about Michael Jackson, finally hit the internet after years of delays, and within hours it racked up millions of views alongside thousands of comments ranging from “this looks incredible” to “this is going to be a sanitized mess.” The 73-second teaser shows Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s 29-year-old nephew, in a transformation so uncanny it’s giving people chills. He’s got the moonwalk down. The voice is there. The iconic lean from Smooth Criminal looks flawless. But here’s where it gets messy: the trailer is relentlessly upbeat, showing only triumph, genius, and joy while completely avoiding the allegations, the trials, the controversies that defined the latter half of Michael’s life. With the Jackson estate’s full blessing and cooperation, critics are already calling this a “whitewash job” while fans are sobbing over seeing the King of Pop brought back to life. The movie drops April 24, 2026 in IMAX theaters worldwide with a reported 3.5-hour runtime and $155 million budget, making it one of the most expensive and polarizing biopics ever made.
The Trailer That Stopped Everything
Wednesday morning, November 6, started normal enough for Michael Jackson fans who’ve been waiting literally years for any footage from this movie. Then Lionsgate dropped the trailer across all platforms simultaneously and social media exploded. The opening frames show a recording studio, an engineer’s voice declaring “The tracks are made, the songs are ready, let’s take it from the top.” Then we see him: Jaafar Jackson as Michael, and the resemblance is genuinely shocking.
The 73-second teaser moves fast, showing glimpses of Michael’s journey from child prodigy to global superstar. We see young Michael performing with The Jackson 5. We see the afro era transitioning to the Thriller curls. We see the iconic red leather jacket, the single white glove, the military-inspired jackets from the Bad tour. Every frame drips with nostalgia and spectacle, recreating moments burned into pop culture history with seemingly obsessive attention to detail.
Credits: USA Today
Jaafar’s physical transformation deserves its own conversation. Through makeup, costumes, choreography, and what appears to be digital assistance, he becomes Michael in ways that go beyond family resemblance. The moonwalk execution looks flawless. The shoulder shimmies, the crotch grabs, the toe stands, all the signature moves are there. His voice, both speaking and singing, carries Michael’s distinctive tone and cadence. Director Antoine Fuqua told Entertainment Weekly months ago he was “blown away” by the “uncanny” resemblance, and the trailer validates that enthusiasm.
But here’s what the trailer conspicuously doesn’t show: any darkness, controversy, or complexity. It’s pure celebration, triumph, and joy from start to finish. That choice tells you everything about what kind of movie this will be.
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The Nephew Who Got the Role of a Lifetime
Jaafar Jeremiah Jackson, born July 25, 1996 in Los Angeles, grew up surrounded by music royalty but initially pursued professional golf. At 12, he discovered singing and dancing, eventually releasing his debut single “Got Me Singing” in 2019. He’s covered legends like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, showing the talent runs deep in Jackson DNA. His father Jermaine Jackson was part of The Jackson 5 alongside Michael, Jackie, Marlon, Tito, and Randy. His aunts Janet, La Toya, and Rebbie are all musicians. Music isn’t just the family business, it’s the family identity.
Jaafar was close to Michael growing up, spending time at Neverland Ranch playing hide and seek, riding attractions, watching films, experiencing the magic his uncle created for children. But Jaafar wasn’t deeply into music yet during Michael’s peak years, so he never had those conversations about the career he’d eventually choose. Michael’s death in June 2009 devastated 13-year-old Jaafar. “It was very tough. I can’t even put my mind back to how it felt that day,” he’s said in interviews.
Credits: CNN
Getting cast as Michael represents both dream opportunity and immense pressure. This is Jaafar’s feature film debut, no small supporting role to ease into acting but the lead in one of the most anticipated and scrutinized biopics ever made. He’ll be compared endlessly not just to Michael but to every actor who’s ever attempted portraying a legend. The physical resemblance gives him a head start, but embodying Michael’s essence, vulnerability, genius, and contradictions requires acting chops we haven’t seen from him yet.
Production took 22 months with filming completing May 2024, followed by extensive reshoots in June 2025 adding 22 additional days. That level of reshooting typically signals problems, creative disagreements, or the need to improve scenes that weren’t working. The movie was originally scheduled for October 3, 2025 release but got pushed to April 24, 2026, giving the team more time to perfect what they’re calling a “cinematic tribute.”
Don’t miss out on understanding why casting family members is always controversial!
The Director Promising “Good, Bad, and Ugly”
Antoine Fuqua brings serious credentials: he directed Training Day (which won Denzel Washington an Oscar), The Equalizer franchise, and numerous other action thrillers. His involvement suggested this wouldn’t be a sanitized puff piece but a serious examination of a complicated man. In a 2023 GMA interview, Fuqua promised the film would show “the good, bad, and ugly” and just “tell the facts.” He emphasized Michael was “a great artist” but also “human,” implying the film would tackle difficult truths.
But here’s the problem: the Jackson estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain are producers on this film. They control Michael’s legacy, image, and how his story gets told. Any movie they approve and help produce will inevitably protect that legacy rather than risk damaging it. Fuqua can promise unflinching honesty all he wants, but when the people who control the subject’s estate are literally producing your movie, certain boundaries exist that can’t be crossed.
Credits: IMDb
The screenplay by John Logan (who wrote Gladiator, The Aviator, and Skyfall) could still incorporate complexity and darkness within those constraints. Logan’s track record shows he understands flawed heroes and tragic figures. But the trailer’s relentlessly positive tone suggests whatever complexity exists will be heavily balanced with celebration and redemption. This will likely feel more like Bohemian Rhapsody (also produced by Graham King) than The Social Network in terms of how critically it examines its subject.
Fuqua told World of Reel in 2023: “Michael’s life was complicated. As a filmmaker, I look to humanise but not sanitise and present the most compelling, unbiased story I can capture in a single feature film.” That word “unbiased” feels nearly impossible when the subject’s estate controls your project and his nephew plays the lead role. How do you remain unbiased while also getting their cooperation and approval?
The Cast That Brings the Story to Life
Beyond Jaafar’s transformation, Michael boasts a stacked cast bringing Michael’s world to life. Colman Domingo, fresh off Oscar nominations for Rustin and The Color Purple, plays Joe Jackson, Michael’s notoriously abusive and controlling father. That casting signals the film might actually explore the trauma Michael experienced under Joe’s management, the beatings, the psychological manipulation, the pressure that shaped and damaged him simultaneously.
Nia Long portrays Katherine Jackson, Michael’s mother and the stabilizing force in the chaotic Jackson household. Miles Teller plays John Branca, Michael’s longtime attorney and current co-executor of his estate. Kat Graham takes on Diana Ross, Michael’s mentor and close friend. The cast also includes Kendrick Sampson as Quincy Jones, the legendary producer behind Thriller, Off the Wall, and Bad. Larenz Tate and Laura Harrier round out the ensemble in undisclosed roles.
Credits: Deadline
This level of talent suggests serious ambitions beyond typical musical biopic fare. Colman Domingo doesn’t sign onto projects to coast, he brings intensity and depth to everything. If the Joe Jackson scenes have any teeth, Domingo will deliver performances that make audiences uncomfortable in all the right ways. Same with Nia Long, who’s proven she can handle complex maternal roles balancing love and enabling.
The 3.5-hour runtime (if accurate) allows space to dig deeper than surface-level greatest hits. Bohemian Rhapsody ran 134 minutes and still felt rushed through Queen’s story. Nearly doubling that length theoretically permits exploring Michael’s childhood trauma, his creative genius, his relationships, his eccentricities, and yes, the controversies, with more nuance than 90-minute biopics allow.
The Controversies Nobody Wants to Address
Let’s talk about the elephant moonwalking around the room: will Michael address the child sexual abuse allegations that dominated the last 15 years of his life and continue stirring debate even now? The 2019 HBO documentary Leaving Neverland featured detailed testimonies from Wade Robson and James Safechuck accusing Michael of years of abuse. The Jackson estate sued HBO over it. Fans remain fiercely divided between believing Michael was innocent and believing the accusers.
The 2005 trial where Michael was acquitted on all charges represents another major life event that shaped his final years. Will the movie depict that trial? His financial troubles? His painkiller addiction? His increasingly erratic behavior? The bizarre incidents like dangling his baby over a balcony? All these moments are part of Michael’s story, but including them risks alienating fans who worship him and upsetting an estate that profits from maintaining his heroic image.
Rolling Stone’s review of the trailer noted it offers a “weirdly upbeat take on Michael Jackson’s life,” suggesting “according to the first teaser, Michael Jackson’s life was filled with nothing but joy and triumph from childhood on.” That whitewashing approach might make for crowd-pleasing entertainment but terrible history and dishonest storytelling.
Fuqua’s caught between impossible pressures: make a film honest enough to satisfy critics and mature audiences while also pleasing an estate, family, and fanbase that want Michael celebrated not examined. Bohemian Rhapsody faced similar criticisms for downplaying Freddie Mercury’s sexuality and AIDS crisis, yet it made $911 million worldwide and won four Oscars. Audiences apparently prefer their musical legends sanitized with controversy sprinkled lightly if at all.
What the $155 Million Budget Means
The reported $155 million production budget (not including marketing) makes Michael one of the most expensive biopics ever made. For context, Bohemian Rhapsody cost $50 million, Rocketman about $40 million, Elvis around $85 million. What justifies nearly double those costs? Recreating Michael’s elaborate concert productions, music videos, and performances requires serious money. The rights to use his actual music don’t come cheap. The VFX work to digitally assist Jaafar’s transformation and recreate 1980s/90s settings adds up. A 3.5-hour runtime means more shooting days, locations, and post-production work than standard films.
That investment signals Lionsgate’s confidence this will be a massive commercial success. They’re positioning Michael as an event film, the kind of movie that demands IMAX viewing and becomes a cultural moment rather than just another biopic. The April 24, 2026 release date lands in the sweet spot between blockbuster season (starting May) and awards consideration (which begins in fall). It allows the film to dominate for weeks without immediate competition.
But that budget also raises stakes dramatically. Michael needs to gross probably $400-500 million worldwide just to break even after marketing costs. That requires appealing to casual audiences, not just hardcore Michael Jackson fans. It needs to work as entertainment for people who weren’t alive during his peak and might not care about his music beyond hearing “Billie Jean” at weddings. The PG-13 rating (likely) needs to keep it family-friendly while the subject matter involves very adult themes.
Your Verdict on This Controversial Biopic
So what’s your take? Will you watch Michael in IMAX on April 24, 2026 or are you boycotting it as a sanitized cash grab? Do you think Jaafar Jackson can pull off his uncle’s complexity or is the family connection too limiting? Should biopics tell uncomfortable truths or celebrate their subjects’ achievements? Drop your honest opinions in the comments because this conversation matters for how we think about legacy, accountability, and what stories deserve telling.
Share this with anyone still debating Michael Jackson’s innocence or guilt because this movie will reignite that conversation whether it wants to or not. Follow for updates as more footage drops and controversy inevitably escalates. Because at the end of the day, Michael represents Hollywood’s eternal struggle: do you tell the truth and risk commercial failure, or do you make the crowd-pleasing version that earns hundreds of millions while whitewashing history? Antoine Fuqua promised both good and bad, but that trailer sure looked like all good. April 2026 will reveal which version we actually get.
