Michael Jackson Biopic Pushed Back to Late 2025

Lionsgate have announced that Michael, its Michael Jackson biopic from director Antoine Fuqua, is now slated to hit theaters in wide release on Oct. 3, 2025.

The feature is moving back by six months from its previously planned release on April 18, 2025.

Starring in the title role is Jaafar Jackson, who is the nephew of the late pop superstar, while Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo round out the cast. Fuqua helms from a script by John Logan for the project that counts Graham King, John Branca and John McClain as producers.

Lionsgate has also set its comedy Good Fortune for wide theatrical release on Oct. 17, 2025. Writer-director Aziz Ansari stars in the film alongside Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Sandra Oh and Keanu Reeves. Ansari, Anthony Katagas and Alan Yang serve as producers.

Good Fortune centers on a well-intentioned but slightly clueless angel (Reeves), who intervenes in the lives of a frustrated gig worker (Ansari) and a successful venture capitalist (Rogen).

During a San Diego Comic-Con panel in July, Fuqua spoke about his progress on Michael, explaining that he was in the process of editing the film at the time.

“Why I wanted to make it is, Michael,” the filmmaker said. “Michael was a big part of my life growing up, big influence on my career, an incredible artist — but he was a human being, and we’re exploring that. I’m very excited about it.”

Footage from Michael was shared at CinemaCon in April, where King revealed that the movie will include 30 songs and have a lengthy run time, in order to do justice to Jackson’s story.

Jackson’s impact on the Billboard charts is unparalleled. He achieved 13 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles as a solo artist, with 30 of his songs reaching the top 10. His album Thriller set numerous records, spending 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart from 1983 to 1984 and became the first album to produce seven Hot 100 top 10 singles.

Jackson is also the only artist to have top 10 hits on the Hot 100 across five consecutive decades (1970s–2010s). In 1983, he made history by simultaneously topping Billboard’s Pop and R&B Album and Singles charts for six consecutive weeks.

Following his death in 2009, Jackson achieved another unprecedented feat when three of his albums claimed the top three positions on Billboard’s Top Pop Catalog Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts simultaneously.