Lionsgate‘s Michael almost looked very different on screen — and its director, Antoine Fuqua, and producer, Graham King, received even larger paydays after the film underwent major reshoots.
As The Hollywood Reporter previously reported, the film’s third act was scrapped amid legal concerns tied to a prior settlement involving one of Jackson’s accusers. The Jackson estate paid for extensive reshoots to reshape the film.
According to a Bloomberg report published Friday, just as Michael danced its way into theaters, Fuqua and King were initially set to earn $10 million and $6 million, respectively, for directing and producing the biopic about the late Michael Jackson, starring his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop. King received an additional $10 million, while Fuqua secured an extra $15 million, to complete the reshoots.
“Graham King worked on the Michael film for seven years. Because the film needed to go back into production and a new budget developed, King and Antoine Fuqua had to postpone other projects and commitments,” a spokesperson for King shared with THR. “This was part of the newly formed budget and an advance against the film.”
Michael was originally slated for an April 2025 release, but the production required a significant overhaul, ultimately landing in theaters in April 2026.
The original cut included Jackson facing child sexual abuse allegations, which made up much of the third act. However, one past accuser had previously reached a settlement with the estate that guaranteed he could never be depicted in future commercial projects. As a result, an additional 22 days of filming took place in June 2025, and the filmmakers are now considering a sequel to continue telling more of Jackson’s story. Michael now ends in 1988, more than twenty years before Jackson’s death in 2009.
The decision to remove references to the allegations was also reportedly influenced by concerns that including them could hurt the film’s box office performance.
THR reached out to Lionsgate, the Michael Jackson Estate and reps for Fuqua but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Still, Michael has exceeded expectations at the box office, with projections between $94 million and $100 million domestically and a global launch nearing $200 million as of Saturday, despite a wave of negative reviews from critics. The film currently sits at 38 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film continues to face criticism beyond its reviews. James Safechuck, one of the two men whose allegations of childhood sexual abuse by the “Thriller” singer were explored in HBO’s 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, released a video message Friday addressed to other survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
The biopic chronicles Michael Jackson’s rise to fame, from his childhood years in the Jackson 5 during the 1960s to his emergence as the King of Pop and one of the world’s most recognizable entertainers before his death in 2009.
Earlier this week, Kat Graham also made headlines after confirming that her scenes as Diana Ross were cut from the film due to “legal considerations.”
