The Michael movie absolutely smashed at the box offices, already making it one of the best musical biopics to come out this year and the first musical biopic to ever gross over $1 billion dollars. The film’s lead, Jaaffar Jackson, nephew of Michael Jackson, instantly became a bonafide movie star, with only one movie under his belt. Now, it has been announced that Jackson has landed his Michael follow-up, and Will Smith is involved.
Per Deadline, Jaafar Jackson’s upcoming film is Supermax, an action thriller already set to star Will Smith and AnnaSophia Robb as two FBI agents investigating a seemingly impossible murder inside a maximum security prison. The David Gordon Green-directed film is a collaboration between Amazon MGM studios and Miramax productions, and is set to go straight to streaming. While we don’t know much more about the plot, or deep details about Jaafar Jackson’s character, we do know that the new actor’s role is said to be pivotal to the central story being told.
I’m quite excited for this project as a sophomore film for Jackson. It will be a real test for the Michael actor in a couple ways. While the critical reviews for Michael were mixed, more of the negative comments revolved around the plot and the absence of the more difficult parts of Michael Jackson’s life, including his trial for the child sexual abuse claims made against the king of pop.
The one aspect of the movie nearly everyone could agree on was that Jaafar Jackson is uncanny in his impersonation of his famous uncle. From his high pitch voice to his killer dance moves, Jackson was able to perfectly replicate the Michael mania on the big screen for both old and new generations alike.
However, a musical biopic is a hell of a lot different from an action thriller like Supermax, and I think this will be even more telling of Jackson’s acting skills than Michael. This time, he will get a more traditional movie-making experience. Unlike Michael, there are no videos, interviews, or personal experience to draw from as direct source material for the young actor’s role in this upcoming Amazon MGM flick, which will require him to interpret the fictional character himself. Not to mention, the tone of this film is very different from Michael, seemingly a bit darker and more suspenseful, and I’m quite interested to see Jackson’s performance in this new genre.
Luckily for the amateur actor, he’s got one of the best vets in the game to guide him. This will be Will Smith’s first feature film since Bad Boys: Ride or Die in 2024, and his first non-franchise film since King Richard, which earned him a 2022 Oscar on the same night he got himself banned from the award show for slapping comedian Chris Rock on live television.
Since that infamous moment, we haven’t seen much of the Fresh Prince actor on our screens, but he’s remained busy behind the scenes, executive producing a number of hit shows like Cobra Kai and Bel-Air. However, the I Am Legend has a number of upcoming acting projects lined up. Could Supermax be the start of a Will Smith renaissance? Only time will tell, so be sure to keep an eye on the 2026 movie schedule for when a release date is eventually announced.
