Jermaine Jackson’s son Jaafar Jackson has been cast to portray his late uncle, Michael Jackson in the upcoming biopic Michael. Antoine Fuqua, who is on board to direct confirmed the news via Instagram.
“Proud to announce @jafaarjackson as Michael — the motion picture event that explores the journey of the man who became the King of Pop. Coming soon,” Fuqua captioned under a black and white photo of Jaafar practicing in similar clothes of his late iconic uncle. Jaafar also confirmed with the same black and white photo, “I’m humbled and honored to bring my Uncle Michael’s story to life. To all the fans all over the world, I’ll see you soon.”
Titled, Michael, Fuqua will direct based on a script by John Logan. Graham King, the producer behind Bohemian Rhapsody is producing alongside GK Films. Michael Jackson’s estate is attached to co-excutive produce with John Branca and John McClain. Michael will not only highlight the highs of his glittering musical career, but also look into the controversies that followed the musician in his personal life, plus the circumstances that led to his untimely death in 2009.
Jaafar is a singer-songwriter in his own right and Fuqua had this to say regarding his new leading man: “It’s incredibly exciting to watch Jaafar bring Michael to life. There was such a spiritual connection when I first met Jaafar, who has a natural ability to emulate Michael and such a great chemistry with the camera.” The lead actor of Michael received further praise from Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, who said, “Jaafar embodies my son. It’s so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers.”
This has long been a passion project for King and Logan, who teamed on the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese-directed Howard Hughes film The Aviator and his race to innovate before his mental illness and germophobic obsessions overtook him. Sources tell us that the film will undoubtedly make the most of Jackson’s musical accomplishments and recreation of seminal career highlights beginning with the days he fronted The Jackson 5 as a child to his hitmaking work as the biggest musical star in the world as an adult. But it will also deal squarely deal with the pedophile accusations that dogged his later years up to his death in 2009 at age 50, from cardiac arrest caused by a cocktail of sedatives.
Things are moving fast on Michael. Fuqua is currently finishing The Equalizer 3 with Denzel Washington in Italy, and then he will turn his attention to this one. Production will begin later this year, and we’ve heard that Fuqua will draft his Emancipation and Equalizer 3 cinematographer Robert Richardson to be by his side.