‘Michael’ Sequel Buzz Is Real: Insiders Reveal Which Eras of MJ’s Life Could Come Next
Biopics chronicling music legends have become a reliable box office draw over the past decade, but few have managed to turn their subject’s life story into a genuine cinematic franchise. Most stick to a single sweeping narrative, packing decades of triumph and turmoil into one release before moving on to the next project entirely.
‘Michael‘ has spent months defying that pattern, breaking records at a pace that’s forced Lionsgate and the Jackson estate to seriously consider what comes next. The film chronicling Michael Jackson’s rise has already rewritten box office history for the biopic genre as a whole.
That success has now translated into real momentum behind a potential sequel, according to people close to the production. Insiders say there is substantial interest in exploring later chapters of Jackson’s life that the first film left untouched, including the “Dangerous” era, his 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance, his marriages, relentless media scrutiny, and the immense pressure that came with global fame.
That ambition isn’t a new development for the people behind the film. Entertainment attorney John Branca, co-executor of Jackson’s estate and a producer on ‘Michael,’ revealed the sequel idea has been part of the vision from the start, telling The Informer, “It was always our hope to have the first biopic with a sequel.”
The numbers backing this conversation are hard to ignore. ‘Michael’ became the first biographical film in history to surpass the $1 billion mark worldwide, a milestone that also made it the first Lionsgate release ever to cross that threshold. The film’s global haul included $371.8 million domestically and $629.8 million from international markets, allowing it to overtake both ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as the highest-grossing music biopic and ‘Oppenheimer’ as the highest-grossing biopic of any kind.
Branca has leaned into that historic run publicly, floating the sequel possibility again while celebrating the billion-dollar milestone. “Think about this,” he said. “First billion-dollar biopic. Could it be the first biopic with a sequel?” He was careful to note that “nothing set yet,” even as the framing made clear how seriously the idea is being weighed behind the scenes.
The current film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Graham King, ends well before many of the defining chapters of Jackson’s adult life. Left unexplored are the record-setting Dangerous World Tour, the Super Bowl halftime show watched by more than 130 million viewers, his humanitarian work, fatherhood, and the final decades of a career that remained one of the most scrutinized in modern entertainment.
That leaves plenty of material for a follow-up to draw from, and industry watchers seem to agree there’s appetite for it. A studio source close to the production put it simply: “But there is clearly more story to be told.”
The first film’s cast has also generated its own wave of praise, particularly Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson’s real-life nephew, who stars as the King of Pop. Branca specifically singled out the ensemble’s work while discussing the film’s success, saying, “Jaafar deserves an Academy Award. Colman Domingo, everybody. Miles, Nia Long, everybody. Graham King, Antoine Fuqua, what a team.”
For now, Lionsgate and the Jackson estate haven’t made anything official, but between the box office numbers and Branca’s repeated hints, the pieces appear to be falling into place for a continuation.
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