Hulu and ESPN announced Tuesday that Spectacle: Michael Jackson at the Super Bowl, a new documentary chronicling Jackson’s 1993 Super Bowl XXVII halftime performance, will premiere in February 2027 on both platforms. Directed by Bao Nguyen, the film draws on never-before-seen footage of Jackson and his team preparing for the Rose Bowl performance that redefined what the halftime show could be.
Jackson’s 1993 set followed two years of NFL counterprogramming struggles, including Fox’s 1991 In Living Color special pulling 22 million viewers away from Gloria Estefan’s halftime show the following year. Jackson’s response began with nearly two full minutes of total stillness on stage before launching into a set that included “Billie Jean,” “Black or White,” and “We Are the World,” the latter performed alongside roughly 3,000 local schoolchildren. The performance marked the first time the Super Bowl’s second half out-rated its first, establishing the halftime show as appointment viewing rather than a built-in intermission, a shift that paved the way for later headliners including Prince, Beyoncé, and Bad Bunny.
The documentary arrives roughly a year after Michael, Lionsgate’s biopic starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, became a major box office success, with a sequel already in development. That sustained interest reflects a broader entertainment industry trend of returning repeatedly to Jackson’s catalog and legacy across multiple formats and platforms, even as his personal history remains a subject of ongoing public debate separate from his musical and performance influence.
Nguyen previously directed The Greatest Night in Pop, the documentary on the making of “We Are the World.” Spectacle is produced by Jesse Sisgold, Jon Weinbach, and Lauren Gaffney for Skydance Sports, John Branca for Optimum Productions, and Amit Dey for Into the Deep End Films, with Karen Langford, Ross Ketover, Ken Rodgers, Keith Cossrow, and Jessica Boddy executive producing for Optimum and NFL Films.
With an exact February date still unannounced, the next detail to watch for is when exactly Spectacle lands, and whether its footage reshapes how audiences understand a performance most have only ever seen in highlight form.