Latest on MJJC

"Michael", a biopic about Michael Jackson, is officially happening.

Leomax said:
I am not a fan of Whitney but I like it, I went to the cinema with curiosity, especially to see what could be a biopic of MJ and honestly I did not like it, it looked very cheap, I wonder where they spent 45M in a film that seems to be taken from Lifetime.
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This. I didn't dislike the film, but I would give it a -B or C if I were grading it. And that says a lot because I am a sucker for biopics. I am the absolute ideal audience because nothing makes me more sentimental than dreams coming true, musical talent, and tragic figures.

I'm not a fan of Whitney, so I had no idea what to expect. But my biggest issue is it didn't capture anything especially unique about her. I didn't come away with a strong understanding of her artistry, her personality, or what made her so special. It was a very basic film. I cried during a few musical performances and I certainly learned some stuff about her I didn't know. But the narrative arc just did not excite me. There was nothing aesthetically that made me feel like "oh! I get what Whitney was all about!" ultimately it did not make me have any desire to check out her discography. To me, that's the greatest marker of a biopic failing.

Compare this to Elvis, which I thought was outstanding. Elvis was rich with color, opulent, and conceived in a unique way. It told a tragic story and taught me a lot about who and what Elvis was and was not. My favorite thing is that it ended with real footage of Elvis performing, which made me openly sob in the theater, because it was so moving. I kept waiting for that to happen in Whitney's movie but it never did. HUGE missed opportunity. My point is, the Elvis biopic captured the essence of his aesthetic, his image, his personal brand, etc. I felt like I saw something grand.

Surely these movies had very different budgets. And I imagine a Michael biopic will be significantly closer to Elvis, than Whitney. But even with a smaller budget, the Whitney film could have been so much better.

If the vibe of Elvis was grandeur, then with Michael's film I need to feel MAGIC. Something highly visual, imaginative. I want to feel like I'm stepping inside of a dream. Capturing the vibe of an artist is extremely important and sometimes I think that is overlooked in order to cram in as much as possible. That would be a mistake, imo.
 
Someone like Damien Chazelle ( no idea if I wrote his name correctly) should do the MJ biopic. That name by itself is enough to get a film attention.
 
Hiker said:
Absolutely right. Sometimes we just get carried away. I actually don't like bashing Branca because I don't know anything about him except that he was with Michael for long time and Michael trusted him. Both of those are positive. So I am going to remember that and not get carried away!!
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I don't really think of bashing Branca like Branca is the ennemy or anything like this... As you mention, we don't know that much about him. But these memes don't come out of nowhere... many things the Estate did, or did not do, were really failing at "supporting MJ's legacy" and were very disappointing, perhaps insulting, to people who actually are into MJ's works...
These are maybe more Branca-targetted than I wished, but considering his position, he's also most straight-forward parodic representation of the Estate and MJ's legacy management... ...and also they're just hilarious...
 
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zinniabooklover said:
Don't wanna be a killjoy but maybe the delay is bc of this. See the reply ...
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I'm part of those who don't really follow attentively necrologies of famous people, even when they were related to MJ... Not like I don't care at all about people dying, but that's just too much info about people "we don't really know". So had no idea of the date of the burial. But thanks for the clarification on the delay.
 
Maxym said:
I don't really think of bashing Branca like Branca is the ennemy or anything like this... As you mention, we don't know that much about him. But these memes don't come out of nowhere... many things the Estate did, or did not do, were really failing at "supporting MJ's legacy" and were very disappointing, perhaps insulting, to people who actually are into MJ's works...
These are maybe more Branca-targetted than I wished, but considering his position, he's also most straight-forward parodic representation of the Estate and MJ's legacy management... ...and also they're just hilarious...
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oh, no, what I said was not directed at your posts at all. It was just my own musings from this thread and some other Thriller 40 related threads. What Estate is doing or not doing is also something I feel not qualified to comment on, but I still comment on those, so it was more of self-reflection.

Back on topic, if done well, and that's a big IF, there is no reason for Michael's biopic to be not successful. Elvis and Queen biopics are fairly successful. And lets be honest while Whitney is very famous in US, I don't think she gets the same level of fame worldwide that Elvis and Michael have.
 
staywild23 said:
This. I didn't dislike the film, but I would give it a -B or C if I were grading it. And that says a lot because I am a sucker for biopics. I am the absolute ideal audience because nothing makes me more sentimental than dreams coming true, musical talent, and tragic figures.

I'm not a fan of Whitney, so I had no idea what to expect. But my biggest issue is it didn't capture anything especially unique about her. I didn't come away with a strong understanding of her artistry, her personality, or what made her so special. It was a very basic film. I cried during a few musical performances and I certainly learned some stuff about her I didn't know. But the narrative arc just did not excite me. There was nothing aesthetically that made me feel like "oh! I get what Whitney was all about!" ultimately it did not make me have any desire to check out her discography. To me, that's the greatest marker of a biopic failing.

Compare this to Elvis, which I thought was outstanding. Elvis was rich with color, opulent, and conceived in a unique way. It told a tragic story and taught me a lot about who and what Elvis was and was not. My favorite thing is that it ended with real footage of Elvis performing, which made me openly sob in the theater, because it was so moving. I kept waiting for that to happen in Whitney's movie but it never did. HUGE missed opportunity. My point is, the Elvis biopic captured the essence of his aesthetic, his image, his personal brand, etc. I felt like I saw something grand.

Surely these movies had very different budgets. And I imagine a Michael biopic will be significantly closer to Elvis, than Whitney. But even with a smaller budget, the Whitney film could have been so much better.

If the vibe of Elvis was grandeur, then with Michael's film I need to feel MAGIC. Something highly visual, imaginative. I want to feel like I'm stepping inside of a dream. Capturing the vibe of an artist is extremely important and sometimes I think that is overlooked in order to cram in as much as possible. That would be a mistake, imo.
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Elvis biopic budget was 85M.

I honestly don’t like Elvis, but I watched the film in streaming for the same reason I saw Whitney biopic and I must admit that visually it is absolutely amazing.

What I did not like about the film was the beginning, it seemed very childish, like a superhero movie, obviously I understand that it is done so on purpose but I did not like it.

I agree that with less budget (40M) can do much better things and Rocketman, the biopic of Elton John, is a great example, I hate musicals but surprisingly I liked it.
 
Honestly my comment was just meant as a light-hearted joke, just for the record; I'm mostly neutral about John Branca, I think he's a bit of a boomer at times but that's it (and yeah, it made me laugh). I do stand by my comment elsewhere that the estate could benefit from more transparency. But that's all I really have to say about it.
 
Yeah, Branca consistently positioning himself at the forefront of all MJ conversations is annoying. The official MJ Instagram account recently shared a TikTok of him just discussing his own career. Why? We don’t care.

That said, I do respect then man on a business standpoint. The “memes” about him are just so aggressively unfunny lol. I can laugh at anyone but “lmfao Branca on a poster! Branca on a CD!” just doesn’t do it for me.
 
Sources tell us that the film will undoubtedly make the most of Jackson’s musical accomplishments and re-creation of seminal career highlights beginning with the days he fronted The Jackson 5 as a child to his hitmaking work as the biggest musical star in the world as an adult. But it will also deal squarely with the pedophile accusations that dogged his later years up to his death in 2009 at age 50, from cardiac arrest caused by a cocktail of sedatives.
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Expecting negative reviews solely because the film doesn’t/won’t paint MJ out as guilty. Incredibly surprised they’re going there though.
 
staywild23 said:
deadline.com

‘Emancipation’s Antoine Fuqua To Direct Michael Jackson Biopic For Lionsgate; John Logan Script & ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King Producing With Estate

Antoine Fuqua is set to direct Michael, a Lionsgate drama telling the complex life story of the iconic singer Michael Jackson.
deadline.com deadline.com

Lots of detail in this article!
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Feel good about the director and Prince Michael’s involvement, but I just cannot see how they could possibly pull this off. There is only one Michael!
 
AlwaysThere said:
Expecting negative reviews solely because the film doesn’t/won’t paint MJ out as guilty. Incredibly surprised they’re going there though.
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Keeping fingers crossed that they deal with these critical issues with taste. If the biopic is meant to cover his whole life, they cannot get away without addressing the controversies. Otherwise it won't be taken seriously.
 
Part of what I think made the Elvis biopic work was the unique telling of the story. Given that it says in the article that they are going to be "looking back" starting with Michael at an older age, I kind of wonder if they might tell the story from another person's perspective? It could be interesting to have Prince narrating and looking back on his father's life through the stories he was told. Though that might be a bad idea. It just crossed my mind for the first time. But if nothing else it would be a unique perspective.

I think they will no doubt handle these issues with care. They are getting some significant figures in Hollywood with awards and credibility behind them. I also love that in the article Fuqua talks about how influential Michael was as a Black man and figure and how he personally shaped his worldview. It seems like there's a deep love and respect for Michael, backed by a lot of talent.

I have no complaints! I am completely certain they won't be able to cast someone who comes even close to Michael's charisma, talent, appeal, etc. but as long as they present him as a complex, unique, loving yet troubled, GENIUS figure, I'll survive lol.
 
So I just watched Emancipation trailer... I hope they can use some more colourful looks...

Other than that... I don't know the guy... and...
staywild23 said:
I have no complaints! I am completely certain they won't be able to cast someone who comes even close to Michael's charisma, talent, appeal, etc. but as long as they present him as a complex, unique, loving yet troubled, GENIUS figure, I'll survive lol.
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Something like this, and I'm usually no audience for biopic and I hope they don't fall in usual biopic "traps"...
 
I think the idea of 'flashbacks' to the early years sounds intriguing, a little like the musical I guess? So pleased that they are covering the allegations too... this will show them from Michaels point of view. It'll be great to hear the 'other' side of the story (the true story). I'm looking forward to this one!
 
I don't like that it's simply titled Michael. I hope the script is decent. I also hope it's more factual. We don't need a repeat of Whitney's movie. I also hope the casting is decent. No Flex Alexander like moments ugh I just don't know how they can do it 🫣 I'm nervous. I won't get the soundtrack cause it will be another greatest hits and I hope I can get an advanced screening.
 
I'm relieved that they're not gonna sugarcoat MJ's life story and will get into the heavy points like his drug abuse and the sexual allegations so I'm a bit more excited for the movie now. My only concern now is who they're gonna get to play MJ in his later decades, finding multiple actors to play MJ in each stage of his life will be a hard task and will be a target of plenty of controversies.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Maybe it'll lead into a secret sequel. Or maybe it'll just be 4 hours.
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Lol nobody is sitting through 4 hours. A lot of negative comments below the articles. Can’t see this as being a good thing. Hope I’m wrong.
 
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