Will there be a sequel to the 'Michael' movie? Here's what we know.
Will there be a sequel to the 'Michael' movie? Here's what we know.
Brendan Morrow, USA TODAYSat, April 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTC
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Spoiler alert! We're getting into details about the new Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" and its ending, so turn away now if you haven't seen the film and don't want to know what happens.
Michael Jackson will return in "Avengers: Secret Wars."
Well, not exactly. But the musical biopic "Michael" (in theaters now) does have more in common with a Marvel movie than you'd expect, right down to concluding with a message that vaguely implies there will be a sequel.
This may take viewers by surprise, given that musical biopics almost never have further installments, even when they don't tell a singer's entire life story. But the filmmakers behind "Michael" have already been talking about the possibility of a second movie, and there is reportedly footage from the first film left on the cutting room floor that could be put to use.
So what do we know so far about a second "Michael," and what might it explore?
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Jaafar Jackson stars as his uncle, pop star Michael Jackson, in "Michael."How does 'Michael end'?
"Michael" doesn't attempt to cover its subject's entire life, and it conveniently ends before he first faced allegations of child sexual abuse, which he consistently denied.
The film mostly concludes in 1984, during the final show of the Jacksons' Victory tour. The culmination of the story is Michael revealing on stage that this would be the Jacksons' last show together, enraging his father Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo).
The film then cuts ahead four years to show Jackson performing on his "Bad" tour in 1988, though this is largely just an epilogue allowing the movie to give viewers one final musical number before the credits. For all intents and purposes, the story ends in 1984.
After a cut to black, there's text on screen declaring, "His story continues." This particular phrasing may be a reference to Jackson's "HIStory" album, but it's worded in such a way that leaves it unclear if the story will continue in a second movie or if this is simply a reminder that Michael's story continued on beyond the events of the film.
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Jaafar Jackson (left) performs as Michael during his 1987 Bad tour. Michael (right) onstage during his first solo show in Japan on Sept. 12, 1987.
Will there be a sequel to 'Michael'?
Lionsgate has all-but-confirmed that if everything goes well, the plan is to make a sequel to "Michael," though a second film has not been formally announced.
"While we're not yet ready to confirm plans for a second film, I can tell you that the creative team is hard at work making sure that we're in a position to deliver more Michael soon after we release the first film," Lionsgate Motion Picture chairman Adam Fogelson said on an earnings call in November 2025, according to Deadline.
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The Michael Jackson biopic "Michael" ends with a tease of a second film, which has not been formally announced.
In a more recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Fogelson reiterated that the "filmmaking team has been hard at work being ready for a second film, and when the right moment comes, we would be excited to announce that that is definitively happening." Meanwhile, Jaafar Jackson, the film's star and Michael's nephew, told Entertainment Tonight that a second movie is "in the early development right now."
Lionsgate appears to be waiting to see the box-office receipts before making things official, so if the film is a hit, expect to see that news in the coming weeks.
Has a second 'Michael' movie been shot?
"Michael" is not a case like "Wicked," where a second movie was essentially ready to go soon after the first one, though there is apparently unused footage that could be repurposed for a sequel.
That's because "Michael" was reportedly forced to rework much of its third act for legal reasons. In 2025, Puck reported that the movie was originally set to address the 1993 allegation that Jackson molested 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. The singer denied the accusation and reached a $23 million settlement.
This was evidently meant to be a focus of the third act, but after shooting wrapped, it was discovered that Jackson's team signed an agreement years ago preventing the Chandlers from being dramatized in a movie. This "rendered the planned storyline and several key scenes that were shot unusable," Puck reported. Producer Graham King recently confirmed on the "Today Show Australia" that "we had a legal issue we found out after we finished shooting the film that the estate didn't realize at the time. So it was a little bit of a shock."
According to Variety, this led to a new ending and 22 days of reshoots. But Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have both reported that the film's producers believe some cut footage could still be used, so presumably not all of the material was related to the abuse allegations.
Variety and Deadline reported in early 2025 that the film could possibly be split into two parts, given how much footage had been shot.
What will a second 'Michael' movie cover?
Because of that legal agreement, a second "Michael" movie would not dramatize the 1993 abuse allegation against Jackson or depict Jordan Chandler.
Instead, Variety reports King is looking to focus on the King of Pop's later albums, such as 1991's "Dangerous" and 2001's "Invincible," as well as his purchase of Neverland Ranch and his "love of animals." Jackson purchased Neverland in 1988, the same year "Michael" ends.
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in "Michael."
Another option would be for the sequel to simply pick back up in 1984, prior to the film's epilogue, and continue covering Jackson's life up until around 1992. The stage show "MJ the Musical" ends with the start of Jackson's Dangerous tour in 1992, so if the "Michael" sequel did something similar, it could again avoid needing to depict or mention the abuse allegations.
If the sequel does decide to go into the 1990s and beyond, it would likely need to ignore Chandler's allegations, similar to the way the first "Michael" skipped over certain events and people in his life, including his sister Janet Jackson.
When will the 'Michael' sequel come out?
Lionsgate hasn't announced a release date for a "Michael" sequel, although given the film is not already completed, fans should expect it would be at least two or three years away.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Jackson movie ending teases sequel – What we know
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