Michael Jackson Biopic Cut Child Abuse Scenes, Adding $15 Million in Reshoots

The Michael Jackson biopic Michael scrapped all scenes depicting 1993 child molestation accusations. Lawyers for the estate discovered a settlement clause that barred any portrayal of accuser Jordan Chandler in movies, Variety reports. This forced filmmakers to undertake 22 days of reshoots last June, tacking on $10 million to $15 million to the already hefty $155 million budget.

The initial script started with the pop star staring at his reflection in a mirror. Police car lights flashed behind him at Neverland Ranch in 1993. That sequence got axed. The entire third act, which centered on the scandal, was removed too. Sources told the trade publication that the estate covered these costs since the error was theirs. They now own an equity stake in the production.

The revised ending showcases the performer at his peak during the Bad Tour, which spanned from 1987 to 1989. No reference to child molestation accusations exists anywhere in the final cut. The singer rejected all such claims while alive, and his estate maintains that position today.

Rather than dwelling on controversy, the biopic zeroes in on tensions between the artist and his father, Joe Jackson. Joe resisted his son's solo ambitions, preferring the Jackson 5 to stay together. Colman Domingo takes on the role of Joe Jackson, while Jaafar Jackson — the singer's nephew — plays the main character. The movie also chronicles severe scalp burns the performer sustained while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial and his subsequent struggle with painkillers.

Janet Jackson doesn't appear as a character. The three children of the late entertainer stayed away from production. Attorney John Branca and estate archivist Karen Langford managed talks instead.

Paris Jackson slammed the project in September 2025. She called it "sugar-coated, " according to IGN. "I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest / didn't sit right with me, and when they didn't address it, I moved on with my life," she wrote. "A big section of the film panders to a very specific section of my dad's fandom that still lives in the fantasy."

The reshoots pushed back the release from April 18, 2025, to October 2025, and then finally scheduled for April 24 of this year. Lionsgate will distribute domestically, and Universal will handle international markets. Early predictions suggest an opening exceeding $55 million at the domestic box office, surpassing the $51 million debut of Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018.