The Michael sequel is no longer just a tease sitting at the end of a blockbuster biopic. Lionsgate told investors and analysts on Thursday that it is actively working on a follow-up to Michael, the hit film about Michael Jackson that closes with the promise, “His Story Continues.” Subtle, as studio hints go.
Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate’s film chief, said during the company’s quarterly earnings call that talks around a second film are moving in the right direction.
“We are really excited about the progress we’re making with respect to a second Michael film,” Fogelson said. “All the conversations that we’ve been having with all of the appropriate parties continue to go exceptionally well.”
Where the first film leaves Michael Jackson’s story
The first Michael ends with Jackson in the middle of his 1987 Bad tour, placing its closing moments before some of the most commercially powerful and publicly complicated chapters of his life.
That leaves the studio with decades of material to consider. On the music side, there is still the Dangerous era and some of the most widely known songs in Jackson’s catalog. On the personal and legal side, there are the multiple allegations of child sexual abuse that followed him for the rest of his life.
Fogelson made clear that Lionsgate sees plenty left to build a movie around, particularly because the first film did not use some of Jackson’s most popular music.
“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,” he said.
Lionsgate says the next film may not move in a straight line
Fogelson also suggested the follow-up may not simply pick up in 1987 and proceed year by year. That gives the filmmakers some flexibility, especially with a life as heavily documented and heavily disputed as Jackson’s.
“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,” Fogelson said.
He added that the storytelling could move around in time.
“We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story,” he teased.
That approach could help the sequel revisit moments skipped in the first film while also moving into later years. It could also give the studio room to shape the narrative around existing footage, unused music, and whatever legal boundaries remain in place.
The first production faced major complications
For all its box office success, Michael had a messy path to the screen. The film was originally expected to address the impact of molestation allegations on Jackson’s life, with much of its third act reportedly centered on that scandal.
Those plans changed after attorneys for the Michael Jackson estate, which served as a producer on the movie, identified a clause in a settlement with Jordan Chandler, one of Jackson’s accusers. That clause barred any depiction or mention of Chandler in a movie.
As a result, material involving the allegations was removed, along with any mention of the accusations. That creates an obvious challenge for any follow-up that moves into the later stages of Jackson’s life, when the allegations became central to the public understanding of him.
It remains unclear how a sequel would handle that period without violating the terms of the settlement. That is not a small creative note. It is the kind of legal wall that can reshape an entire film.
Some sequel footage may already exist
Fogelson said Lionsgate may be able to use some of the footage cut from the first production in the next movie. If that happens, it could reduce the cost of making the follow-up.
“We think we’ve got 25 to 30% of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity, and so obviously that will have some [financial] benefit ultimately, but we’re going to make sure we make a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again,” he said.
That matters because the first film was not cheap. Michael carried a production budget of more than $155 million. It has since grossed more than $700 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest box office hits of 2026.
For Lionsgate, the appeal of a sequel is not hard to understand. The first film proved there is still a large global audience willing to watch Jackson’s life retold on a grand scale. The harder question is what version of that life the next movie is able, and willing, to show.
