Michael Jackson's biopic, Michael, has hit a major roadblock in its road to release.
The highly anticipated film was reportedly set to be released in October, however, its release could be seriously delayed due to mention of a past accuser.
According to The Independent, the film portrays the case of past accuser Jordan Chandler who was 13 when he claimed that Jackson committed "sexual offensive contacts." The case was eventually settled out of court with the King of Pop paying a reported $23 million despite never officially being charged in the case. Jackson reportedly signed an agreement when he was alive that stated he could not dramatize the events that allegedly took place.
Matthew Belloni of Puck News reports that the film does indeed focus on the events that occurred around the time of the case. Because of this, the ending of the movie will have to be re-shot and the script will have to be re-done as well.
In one scene in particular, Belloni reports that the lawyers for Jackson are "discussing whether to pay off Chandler and his family."
"At one point, the lawyers play the infamous recording, submitted in court, of Jordan's father threatening to leverage his son's accusations to 'destroy' his ex-wife and Jackson's career," he reports.
The decades-old legal agreement was not known during filming and the film will now have to include expensive re-shoots. The studio has reportedly threatened to scrap the project if they do not decide to sign off on the re-shoots.
Jackson passed away in 2009 and it was reported that he had a debt of $500 million at the time of his death. The debut has allegedly been mounting for years with allegations that he was $140 million in debt in 1998.
In 2024, it was reported that the estate of the late singer had won a ruling that approved the $600 million sale of his catalogue to Sony Music, The Hollywood Reporter reports. The deal reportedly included half of Jackson's publishing and recorded masters.
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