Antoine Fuqua - Biopic of Michael Jackson: "My film will show the good, the bad and the ugly"

After Equalizer 3, the director must film the life of the King of Pop. With Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s own nephew.

On August 30, the third and final part ofEqualizerstill made by Antoine Fuqa and carried by Denzel Washington. The two men promised that it would be the ultimate adventure of the watchful Robert McCall. What are they going to do next?

The director must follow up with a highly anticipated biopic: a feature film retracing the life of michael jackson, from his first child successes within the Jackson 5 until his premature death in 2009, at only 50 years old. The script is by John Logan (Gladiators, Aviators…) and in production, we find Graham King (Bohemian Rhapsody). Fuqua chose Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s own nephew, to play the King of Pop.

Guest on the show Good Morning America, the filmmaker assures that his film will not obscure the dark side of the singer’s life, unlike the biopic of Freddie Mercury, very shy about his escapades, and criticized for his lack of audacity. He explains that he will retrace his successes, his hits, memorable clips and huge concerts as well as the dramas and accusations of pedophilia that have dotted his career.

“He was a great artist, considers Antoine Fuqua. And he was human. So we’ll show the good, the bad and the ugly… We’ll tell Michael based on the facts that I have. With producer Graham King, who made Bohemian Rhapsodywe will tell what happened, and it will be up to the spectators to form an opinion on their feelings about Michael, but we will tell all the facts as we know them.

Announcing the project last January, the director of Training Day had explained: “The first films of my career were music videos, and I find that combining music and cinema remains a deep part of who I am. For me, no artist has ever had the power , the charisma and the musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced by his work in making my music videos, since he was the first black artist to tour so much on MTV. His videos, all these images have shaped my way of see the world. So having the chance to tell your story on screen while basing it on your music…it’s irresistible.”

Jaafar Jackson has never made a film, but like his uncle and like his father Jermaine (who was also part of the Jackson 5), he embarked on a musical career at a very young age. Here is one of his clips, “Got Me Singing” :