'Michael' Hits Starz With a Sequel Already in the Works

The numbers on 'Michael' were always going to be hard to argue with. Now the movie itself is hard to avoid.

<cite index="8-3,8-4">Lionsgate's highest-grossing film ever began streaming on Starz on August 10, arriving after a 108-day theatrical window that opened April 24 to $97.2 million domestic and $217 million worldwide, the best opening weekend ever for a musical biopic.</cite> By the time the credits rolled on its theatrical run, <cite index="13-7,13-8">its worldwide earnings had pushed past $1 billion, making it the first music biopic to ever cross that mark.</cite>

And the momentum hasn't stalled since it moved to your living room. <cite index="12-4,12-5">Just months after racking up that billion at the box office, 'Michael' is tearing up the streaming charts and is officially the most-watched movie on Starz.</cite> According to CBR's reporting using FlixPatrol data, <cite index="12-10">it's also the most popular title on the platform overall, unseating 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' and 'Fightland' for the top spot.</cite>

The film, <cite index="7-6">directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by John Logan, chronicles Jackson's rise from his involvement in the Jackson 5 in the 1960s through his 'Bad' tour in the late 1980s.</cite> <cite index="7-7">Jackson is played by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, and as a child by Juliano Valdi, both making their film debuts.</cite> <cite index="7-8,7-9">The ensemble includes Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson, Miles Teller as entertainment lawyer John Branca, Kat Graham as Diana Ross, and Larenz Tate as Berry Gordy.</cite>

Here's where it gets complicated, though. <cite index="11-1">Critics largely panned the film, praising Jaafar's performance but calling the story 'sanitized.'</cite> <cite index="12-15,12-16">Audiences disagreed almost entirely, and that split isn't unusual for musical biopics, which tend to get picked apart for historical inaccuracies but celebrated by fans who just want to see their favorite artists honored onscreen.</cite> <cite index="8-8">'Michael' earned an A- CinemaScore and a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.</cite> Make of that what you will, but when critics go left and audiences go right that hard, the movie wins every time.

Variety critic Owen Gleiberman landed somewhere in the middle, and his notice is probably the most useful one: <cite index="7-12">he praised Jaafar for nailing "the look, the voice, the electrostatic moves" as well as "the mixture of delicacy and steel that made Michael who he was," and also suggested 'Michael' could be the first biopic to set up a franchise, with a Lionsgate sequel expected to be confirmed.</cite>

That sequel is now very much confirmed. Forbes reported that <cite index="15-9,15-10">the film chronicles Jackson's life through his 1988 Bad tour, and Lionsgate is actively planning 'Michael 2,' with filming expected to start in late 2026 or early 2027.</cite> <cite index="15-11">The studio aims to deliver an even bigger sequel, potentially using sequences already shot for the original, to continue the story.</cite> The title card at the end of the film reportedly reads 'HIS story continues,' which is about as subtle as a moonwalk on a lit stage.

The franchise play makes sense from Lionsgate's perspective. The studio has been searching for a reliable tent pole that isn't borrowed IP, and 'Michael' delivered on a scale they haven't seen before. Whether a second chapter can replicate the cultural event quality of the first is a different question. Biopics that expand into sequels tend to feel institutional pretty fast. But Jaafar Jackson's performance is the variable nobody can easily account for. If he's as good in the second film covering the 'Thriller' and 'Bad' eras as he was in the first, audiences will come back. They always do for the music.

Sources cited:
- Deadline (https://deadline.com/2026/07/michael-streaming-date-1237004628/)
- Variety (https://variety.com/2026/film/news/michael-streaming-release-date-michael-jackson-starz-1236757504/)
- Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/timlammers/2026/08/08/michael-streaming-shifts-to-starz-this-week-as-sequel-filming-nears/)
- CBR (https://www.cbr.com/michael-jackson-biopic-starz-streaming-success-august-2026/)
- Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(2026_film))