Uh…oh boy. This is a disappointing one, folks. An expected one, sure, but that doesn’t make it any less lame.
The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, was a contemptuous figure, especially in his later years. But since his death in 2009, it seemed only inevitable that his tragic, sinister life would be turned into a Hollywood film and today we have confirmation, as we’re hearing that the guy who produced Bohemian Rhapsody is now in control of the Jackson biopic.
Graham King, producer extraordinaire, has confirmed that he and the Jackson estate have worked out an agreement which will allow King and crew access to the entire musical catalog that made Michael famous. And the singer’s life rights, of course. Graham has also brought on three-time Oscar nominated writer John Logan (The Aviator, Gladiator, Hugo) to pen the script.
Personally, I thought Bohemian Rhapsody was awful. It was awful in many many ways, too. Not just the writing, not just the editing, not just the directing (or director, for that matter); it was the entire package. People ate it up because they loved Freddie Mercury, and who wouldn’t have? The dude was nothing short of amazing. But as much as I love Mr. Robot and Rami Malek, he doesn’t deserve the Oscar he currently has, nor should the film have any of the accolades bestowed upon it.
Graham sanitized Mercury’s incredibly fascinating life down to the bare minimum, if that. So much interesting stuff was tossed out for being too racy and Michael Jackson deserves a serious biopic that explores both the highs of his early career, and the lows of his abusive childhood and later predatory behavior. Are we going to get that, though? Not with this team at the wheel. Don’t expect anything on the level of Leaving Neverland.
But it’s happening and there’s not much we can do about it. I could have made some “Thriller” jokes or something, but nah. This is just bad news to me. I really hope the Michael Jackson biopic is a step up from the banal, embarrassing Bohemian Rhapsody, but with all that money and them Oscars, what’s to learn?