After many stages of development, we finally get the film biopic about one of the greatest musicians to have ever do it and one of my favorite music artists, the late and legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson. With a first time actor in the case of Jafaar Jackson and a great supporting cast, along with the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody and The Town and the iconic director Antoine Fuqua, who has directed some great films especially Training Day and with so much ground work to cover, can the Michael Jackson biopic (the first half of a potential two-parter) live up to the hype, excitement, curiosity and concerns that MJ fans, movie fans and music fans have? Well, let's talk about it here.

In this LIVE review, Epictastic Joshua's Joshua Drake Randall gives you his honest and unedited thoughts on "Michael" aka "Michael: Part One" and breaks down his excitement from the positives to negatives to overall how does this first half does justice to Michael Jackson's early career from childhood to the 80s?

#MichaelMovie #MichaelPartOne #JafaarJackson #AntoineFuqua #MichaelJackson

*Timecodes*

0:00 - Review starts

3:51 - cast and crew/plot synopsis

6:21 - thoughts on MJ and his music/legacy

10:33 - thoughts on music biopics/excitement and nervousness for Michael

21:50 - expectations to thoughts

25:00 - Full disclaimer

27:40 - The Light (pros)

50:42 - The Dark (negatives)

1:02:03 - Overall thoughts/rating

1:10:21 - Conclusion and ending

Sypnosis

The story of pop superstar Michael Jackson -- from his extraordinary early days in the Jackson 5 to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fuels a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world.

CAST & CREW

Directed by

Antoine Fuqua

Written by

John Logan

Produced by

Graham King

John Branca

John McClain

Starring

Jaafar Jackson

Nia Long

Laura Harrier

Juliano Krue Valdi

Miles Teller

Mike Myers

Colman Domingo

KeiLyn Durrel Jones

Jamal R. Henderson

Jayden Harville

Tre Horton

Jaylen Lyndon Hunter

Rhyan Hill

Judah Edwards

Joseph David-Jones

Nathaniel Logan McIntyre

Jessica Sula

Kendrick Sampson

Larenz Tate

Liv Symone

Kevin Shinick

Cinematography

Dion Beebe

Edited by

John Ottman

Harry Yoon

Conrad Buff IV

Tom Cross

Original Music by

Lior Rosner

Casting by

Kimberly Hardin

Victoria Thomas

Production Design: Barbara Ling

Costume Design: Marci Rodgers

Production companies

GK Films

Optimum Productions

Distributed by

Lionsgate Films (United States)

Universal Pictures (International)

Rated: PG-13 for some thematic material, language and smoking

Genre: Musical, music film, biography, drama, period piece,

Release dates:

April 10, 2026 (Berlin)

April 24, 2026 (United States)

Running time: 2 hours 7 minutes

Budget: $155–200 million

Box Office: $217.4 million

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