Michael Jackson's biopic release date pushed to 2026: Everything to know 

Michael Jackson's biopic release date has been pushed to a likely 2026 release, Variety reported on May 22, 2025. In the report, Lionsgate CEO Jon Felthimer is quoted from a conference call for the company's Q4 2025 fiscal year meeting, announcing the pushback of the biopic's release date:

"In regard to our Michael Jackson biopic, we’re excited about the 3½ hours of amazing footage from producer Graham King and director Antoine Fuqua, and we will be announcing a definitive release strategy & timing in the next few weeks."

Felthimer continued:

"I would note that it is likely we will move ‘Michael’ out of the fiscal year which will impact fiscal ’26 financial results but will bolster an already strong fiscal ’27 slate."

The fiscal year 2026 for Lionsgate ends on March 31, 2026, and according to Variety reports, the film will likely be released sometime in the remainder of 2026 (fiscal year 2027).

Fiscal years are not always the same as the normal year count, with many companies and financial institutions, such as Lionsgate, having fiscal years that straddle two years. Thus, fiscal year 2027 will include months in both 2026 and 2027.

Michael Jackson biopic to be split into two films

The Michael Jackson biopic, titled 'Michael,' has also been split into two films. According to a statement by Adam Fogelson, the chief of Lionsgate, the details regarding the same and other details around the release of the biopic will be announced in the next few weeks. The statement here is quoted via a Deadline report:

"At the end, when you look at the music library, when you look at what Michael Jackson was able to deliver in terms of music and contributions to art, whether or not that can be fit into one movie comfortably or not is a question that we are absolutely asking,” he said on a call after quarterly earnings. “We’ll be ready to answer more specifically in the coming weeks."

Michael Jackson's biopic is set to star Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role, with other actors including Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Kat Graham, and Jessica Sula, among others. Filming for the project started in 2024, delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes in the preceding year.

In 2024, reports emerged that the biopic was facing major issues regarding the depiction of the molestation case against Michael Jackson by Jordan Chandler. The Chandler family and Jackson settled the case out of court with a reported $25 million, and apparently, part of the legal agreement was that the events surrounding the Chandler case could never be dramatized into a film or show.

This legal agreement was reportedly missed during the first round of shoots, reportedly leading to the need for a major reshoot to cut out the footage that violated the legal agreement made by the Chandler family and Jackson.

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The reshoots took place in 2024, and the film was initially scheduled to be released in 2025, first in April and then in October. However, the film has now been delayed to 2026. The biopic rights were first acquired by producer Graham King in 2019.

The biopic will cover events throughout Jackson's entire career, from his early days in the Jackson 5 to the stardom years of his solo career, as well as the weeks preceding his death in 2009.

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