Lionsgate Reveals New Details About the Upcoming Sequel to the ‘Michael’ Biopic
Lionsgate has confirmed that a sequel to the hit biopic “Michael” is now in development, according to comments made during the company’s latest earnings call,.
The first film, which tells parts of the life of Michael Jackson, ends with a message that says, “His Story Continues,” and now the studio says that is exactly what will happen next.
During the call, Lionsgate film chief Adam Fogelson spoke about the follow-up project and said the team is actively moving forward with it.
He said, “We are really excited about the progress we’re making with respect to a second ‘Michael’ film. All the conversations that we’ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well.”
The first movie finishes around the time of Michael Jackson’s 1987 “Bad” tour. That leaves many years of his life still open for a sequel, including his later albums, global fame, and also the controversies that followed him for decades.
Fogelson said there is still a lot of story left to tell. He explained, “I would say that there is a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson story, and much of the biggest and most popular parts of his music catalog that were not touched upon in the first film. There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie that weren’t touched upon, so we’re very, very confident that we’ve got an incredibly entertaining movie that will appeal once again to a global audience as the pieces come together.”
He also mentioned that the sequel might not follow a straight timeline. Instead, it could move back and forth in time to tell the story in a different way. He said, “We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story.”
The first film was a major box office success, earning more than $700 million worldwide from a production budget of over $155 million. It became one of the biggest films of 2026.
However, the production process was not simple. Reports say the film originally planned to include more sensitive parts of Jackson’s life, including legal controversies and accusations that surrounded him. But those sections were removed during production due to legal restrictions connected to agreements with the Jackson estate.
Because of those issues, it is still unclear how the sequel will handle that part of his history.
Fogelson also revealed that some material already filmed for the first movie could be reused in the sequel, which could help reduce production costs. He said, “We think we’ve got 25 to 30% of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity, and so obviously that will have some [financial] benefit ultimately, but we’re going to make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again.”
The sequel is still in early development, and no release date has been announced yet. But Lionsgate says it is confident the next chapter will continue to attract a global audience, just like the first film did.
For now, fans are waiting to see how the studio will continue the story and what parts of Michael Jackson’s life will be included in the follow-up film.
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