Michael is one of the year’s most controversial films. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), it’s a biopic of Michael Jackson (played by his own nephew, Jaafar Jackson), charting his life from child stardom in the Jackson 5 to world-conquering fame as the self-styled King of Pop. The project has been beset by delays and reshoots, and questions about the sex abuse allegations made against Jackson (which are rejected by his estate). But its producer, Graham King, also produced Bohemian Rhapsody, so maybe Michael will end up like his Queen biopic – a troubled production that became an Oscar-winning hit. “[Jackson was] an enigma, full of eccentricity, electrifying talent, arguably the most famous entertainer to ever cross the planet,” King said at Las Vegas’s CinemaCon in 2024. “And yet behind the unrelenting scrutiny and the accusations and the grinding media spotlight, he was simply a man. A man who lived a very complicated life. The movie will get into all of it.”

Released internationally on 23 and 24 April

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