MICHAEL: Antoine Fuqua Slated to Direct a Michael Jackson Biopic for Lionsgate

Antoine Fuqua Tapped to Tell the Story of Michael Jackson

Filmmaker Antoine Fuqua will be telling the life story of Michael Jackson in his upcoming biopic titled Michael.

Antoine Fuqua, the man who guided Denzel Washington to his Academy Award-winning performance in 2001’s Training Day, will be focusing next on the story of the legendary musical performer himself, Michael Jackson. This film will be called Michael and will be the next in a series of movies that have focused on musical talents. We have had Bohemian Rhapsody (about Freddy Mercury), Rocketman (Elton John’s story) and just this year, we had the terrific Baz Luhrmann film, Elvis. A Michael Jackson biopic is just what audiences may have ordered judging from the success of those previous movies.

While we do not know who will be playing Michael Jackson as of yet, the role is sure to be one of the most difficult ones ever for whichever actor takes on the role. Fuqua has just come off the dramatic movie with Will Smith, Emancipation, which was an excellent historical action picture that was showcased this past December on Apple TV. Lionsgate and GK Films will be the principal studios behind the making of the movie, Michael.

From the rise of Michael Jackson in the Jackson 5 to the sex abuse allegations that Jackson faced, this upcoming movie promises to be fearless and probing. Fuqua is always intriguing and his roots are in making music videos. He is currently working on wrapping up The Equalizer 3, the sequel which stars none other than the Oscar winner, himself, Denzel Washington.

Antoine Fuqua came on to the movie scene with 1998’s The Replacement Killers. That film, which was a box-office disappointment that earned just a “B-” CinemaScore and $19 million domestically, starred Chow Yun-Fat and Mira Sorvino. Even though it wasn’t a very good film, it showcased Fuqua’s unique film-making abilities which led to him becoming very successful in Hollywood. Fuqua also directed the critically acclaimed, Southpaw which starred Jake Gyllenhaal. That movie was a box-office hit which was released in 2015 and earned an “A” CinemaScore.

While Michael Jackson’s life story will not be easy to tell given all its ups and downs, Fuqua’s background in music videos makes him the perfect man for the job of directing the very intriguing upcoming picture. Let’s hope the movie makes the story of Jackson come to life in such a way that it will be one of the best recent biopics. Recently, the film, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, under-performed at the box-office with just $22 million collected so far (domestically) despite its noble intentions. Hopefully, Fuqua’s Jackson picture will do much better financially and will be a bit stronger from an artistic standpoint as well.

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