“Michael,” the smash hit biopic, makes it clear that moviegoers haven’t seen the last of Michael Jackson, with the film ending with the words, “His Story Continues.” And Lionsgate, the studio behind the film, told investors and analysts on a quarterly earnings call on Thursday that it is hard at work on a sequel.
“We are really excited about the progress we’re making with respect to a second ‘Michael’ film,” Adam Fogelson, the company’s film chief, said. “All the conversations that we’ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well.”
The first “Michael” wraps up with the King of Pop in the middle of 1987’s “Bad” tour. That leaves several decades of material — from successes such as “Dangerous” to controversies like the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse that dogged Jackson for the rest of his life.
“I would say that there is a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson story, and much of the biggest and most popular parts of his music catalog that were not touched upon in the first film,” Fogelson added. “There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie that weren’t touched upon, so we’re very, very confident that we’ve got an incredibly entertaining movie that will appeal once again to a global audience as the pieces come together.”
