'Michael' sequel may address abuse allegations, says Jaafar Jackson

Jaafar Jackson, who portrayed his late uncle Michael Jackson in the 2026 biopic “Michael”, has suggested that the film's planned sequel could offer deeper insight into the child sexual abuse allegations that followed the pop star during the later years of his life.

Speaking to GQ Middle East, Jaafar said he hopes the sequel will give audiences greater insight into Michael's perspective, while acknowledging that he does not have control over which aspects of his uncle's life will ultimately appear in the screenplay.

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“I think the second film will give even more insight from his point of view, because at the end of the day, the allegations are always from someone else's,” Jaafar said. “It's someone else's story. It's someone else's idea of what it is, and it's mainly driven by an agenda. And that's really the issue we've been having as a family, not having Michael's voice being heard. I think that's very, very important, especially in the late years.”

The first “Michael” focused on Jackson's rise to fame, from his early years with the Jackson 5 through his solo career and the 1987 release of “Bad”. The film ends before the first public child sexual abuse allegation against Jackson emerged in 1993.

Jaafar said the first film was designed to establish Jackson as a person before exploring the more complicated chapters of his later life.

“This first film focuses on Michael from his roots. You understand who he was as a human being first, because at the end of the day, that's who he was in the '90s until he passed,” he said.

The planned sequel is already in development at Lionsgate. The studio's film chief Adam Fogelson said earlier this month that production could begin towards the end of 2026 or in early 2027, with a potential release targeted for late 2027 or the first half of 2028.

The first film's omission of the allegations was the result of major changes to the production. According to Variety, the original version was intended to cover the 1993 allegations, but scenes involving one of Jackson's accusers were removed after the Jackson estate's lawyers identified a provision in a settlement that prohibited the depiction or mention of the accuser in a film. The production subsequently underwent extensive rewrites and reshoots.

Lionsgate has indicated that some of the material removed from the first film could potentially be incorporated into a sequel. Fogelson previously said the studio believed it already had around 25 to 30 percent of a second film in previously shot material.

Michael Jackson faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse during his lifetime. He denied the allegations. In 2005, he was acquitted of all charges in a criminal case involving allegations that he had abused a minor.

The first “Michael”, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson as the pop icon, became a major box-office success, crossing $1 billion worldwide and becoming the first biopic to reach that milestone.

A release date for the sequel has not yet been announced.