Originally intended to be a 2025 release, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael is now just a couple months away from opening on the 2026 movies schedule. We got our first look at Jafaar Jackson bringing his late uncle to life in the Michael trailer released in November, and in addition to another trailer releasing at the beginning of this month, there’s also now a behind-the-scenes video to watch that shows off the performer’s fancy footwork. While this video is another feather in the cap that is Michael’s marketing, it also makes me think the movie is missing out an easy way to promote the movie.
This new look at Michael from Lionsgate focuses on Jafaar Jackson, the son of Jermaine Jackson, practicing the dance choreography and “proving” to the filmmakers that he was “capable of becoming” Michael Jackson. Watch the featurette to get a taste of what director Antoine Fuqua is talking about when he said Jafaar “killed it” in the role:
I’m not going to predict how Michael will be received critically or how it will perform at the box office, but in terms of the dancing, Jafaar Jackson definitely impressed in that video. Seeing him bust a moes to “Billie Jean” and “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough” may be just enough to get me to see this movie in theaters. But why stop there? Lionsgate and Universal Pictures (which are handling the domestic and international releases, respectively) should have Jafaar put those moves to good use by recreating certain performances and/or other big moments from Michael Jackson’s life as an addition way to hype people up for Michael.
For example, Michael Jackson performed at the 1993 Super Bowl halftime show. NBC, which aired the Super Bowl with the Bad Bunny-fronted halftime show, is part of the NBCUniversal media empire, just like Universal Pictures. It would have been amazing if one of the ads aired during the game this past weekend was a snippet of Jafaar recreating his uncle’s performance in 1993 to promote Michael. Then, fans could have gone online to watch the full thing.
It’s too late to pull that off, but there’s still some time to recreate some of Michael Jackson’s other biggest professional moments for marketing that won’t be covered in-depth during the movie. Actually, I’m hoping this promotional material has already been shot and simply hasn’t been released yet. There’s a lot of excitement building around Michael, which isn’t surprising given that he’s one of the most famous pop culture figures of the 20th century. This would be a good way to boost that excitement even more.
Michael opens in theaters on April 24, and Jafaar Jackson is joined by Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller and Laura Harrier, among many others. Antoine Fuqua directed the feature off a script written by John Logan, so fingers crossed what they put together ends up being a cinematic treat.
