Denzel Washington returns to the big screen as Robert McCall in the newest addition to the Equalizer series. And with the buzz around the new movie, director Antoine Fuqua has used the chance to give light into his upcoming feature, Michael.
Made in cooperation with the namesakes estate, the film will follow the story of Michael Jackson, and will chronicle his massive successes and controversies through his career, until his death in 2009. Director Fuqua talked briefly on it in an interview with Entertainment Weekly and gave praise to the lead actor, Jaafar Jackson.
Jaafar Jackson also happens to be related to the late star, as he is Michael’s real life nephew. “It’s uncanny how much he’s like Michael,” Fuqua had to say, according to Comicbook. “Sounds like him, dances like him, sings. It’s really uncanny. Graham King, who is a fantastic producer, found him, and introduced him to me, and I was blown away.”
“Just to tell the facts as we know it, about the artist, about the man, about the human being.” Fuqua also went on to say it’ll encapsulate all of his life, including the “good, bad, and ugly.”
Simmering since 2019, the film will begin principal photography after the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes come to an end, with John Logan, screenwriter of Gladiator, lined up to help.
“The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” Fuqua said on his personal connection to music. “For me, there is no artist with the power, the charisma, and the sheer musical genius of Michael Jackson. I was influenced to make music videos by watching his work – the first Black artist to play in heavy rotation on MTV. His music and those images are part of my worldview, and the chance to tell his story on the screen alongside his music was irresistible.”
For any details on the film as they come out, stay with us here.
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