Overview
- The 70-second preview features studio scenes with Quincy Jones (played by Kendrick Sampson) and brisk flashes of recreated moments including “Thriller” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” with stadium concert imagery.
- Lionsgate set a theatrical date of April 24, 2026, with IMAX screenings planned, and the teaser is slated to play in theaters ahead of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
- Jaafar Jackson portrays Michael Jackson, with Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson, Miles Teller as attorney and adviser John Branca, Larenz Tate as Berry Gordy, Laura Harrier as Suzanne de Passe, Kat Graham as Diana Ross, and Juliano Krue Valdi as young Michael.
- Antoine Fuqua directs from a script by John Logan, with Graham King producing alongside estate co-executors John Branca and John McClain.
- Production wrapped in 2024 before third-act rewrites and reshoots prompted multiple date changes; industry reports tied some changes to legal concerns over depicting accuser Jordan Chandler, a claim later denied to Variety, and it remains unclear how the final film addresses the controversies.