All posts tagged: biopic

Michael Jackson biopic makers confirm sequel is on the way – with ‘25 to 30% already shot’

Michael Jackson biopic makers confirm sequel is on the way – with ‘25 to 30% already shot’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter After years in production, Lionsgate’s controversial Michael Jackson biopic finally debuted in cinemas earlier this month – and the studio has now confirmed a sequel is on the way. Michael was released to resoundingly negative reviews from critics, with The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey awarding it one star and labelling the film a “ghoulish, soulless cash grab”. Those negative reviews, however, did not stop fans from heading for cinemas in their droves and securing Michael the biggest opening weekend for any music biopic in history with $217m (£160m) in takings globally. The film’s current revenue is a whopping $715.8m (£533.2m) worldwide. The figures have fuelled talk of a possible follow-up and speaking in a quarterly earnings call reported on by Variety, Lionsgate motion picture chair Adam Fogelson confirmed that preparations for a second film are well underway – and going “exceptionally well”. …

Netflix announces docuseries on Michael Jackson child abuse trial as new biopic surpasses 0 million at the box office

Netflix announces docuseries on Michael Jackson child abuse trial as new biopic surpasses $700 million at the box office

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Netflix is dropping a docuseries about the explosive 2005 trial that was left out of Michael Jackson’s new hit biopic. After Michael passed the $700 million mark in global ticket sales — and made box office history with its $97 million opening weekend in the United States — the streamer announced Michael Jackson: The Verdict will come out June 3, centering on the controversial legal saga surrounding the King of Pop after he was charged and later acquitted of multiple counts of child molestation. “It has been 20 years since the trial of Michael Jackson in which he was found not guilty,” the docuseries filmmakers said in a Netflix press release. “Yet, to this day, controversy still rages. No cameras were allowed in court, and so the public’s view of the facts at the time were filtered by commentators and presented …

Billy Joel Blasts Unauthorized Biopic as ‘Misguided’

Billy Joel Blasts Unauthorized Biopic as ‘Misguided’

Published by Daniella Wilson

A biopic chronicling the early life of legendary rockstar Billy Joel is in the works, though the piano man himself isn’t affiliated with the project, and he’s calling out the film as “both legally and professionally misguided.” John Ottman, who edited the recently released Michael, is directing Billy & Me, and Adam Ripp is writing the screenplay. For the project, Ottman and Ripp secured the life rights of Billy Joel‘s former manager, Irwin Mazur, as well as Jon Small, a longtime friend of Joel’s. But as a rep for Joel says, the singer has been in touch with the filmmakers for several years to confirm that they do not have his own rights for the picture. “Since 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project,” Joel’s rep said in a statement. “Billy Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would …

Gilles Lellouche in Laszlo Nemes’ Jean Moulin Biopic

Gilles Lellouche in Laszlo Nemes’ Jean Moulin Biopic

Published by Daniella Wilson

The French Resistance hero Jean Moulin was 44 when he was captured by the Gestapo in Lyon and tortured until his death, in July of 1943. He has since become a national symbol of France’s fight against the Nazis, perhaps a figure of some renewed relevance now that various far-right factions are making inroads in French elections, and around the world. It thus may be an apt time for the biopic Moulin, a grim portrait of Moulin’s last days directed by Hungarian Oscar-winner László Nemes.  Nemes is something of a specialist in this strain of historical drama. His past films have covered the Hungarian Uprising, the fraught lead-up to WWI and, in 2015’s excruciating Son of Saul, life and death in a Nazi concentration camp. His serious, sometimes ponderous style is most vividly on display in Son of Saul, which uses the nervy technique of keeping the camera very close on one prisoner as hell is unleashed in the periphery. Moulin, by contrast, has no real gimmick; it is stolid and straightforward, shot in hues …

Brazilian Photographer Claudia Andujar Is the Subject of a New Biopic

Brazilian Photographer Claudia Andujar Is the Subject of a New Biopic

Published by Jenni Sidey

Oscar-Nominated Sentimental Value star Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas will join The Secret Agent lead Wagner Moura on Brazilian film The Outsider, where Ibsdotter Lilleaas will have the central role.   Bringing together stars of the two biggest non-English language movies at this year’s Academy Awards, The Outsider (A Estrangeira) is produced by São Paulo’s Maria Farinha Filmes and written and directed by Brazilian filmmaker Sandra Delgado (Disney’s Maria: The Outlaw Legend).  Related Articles Oscar nominated for The Secret Agent which won him a best actor award last year at Cannes, Moura is already on board as one of The Outsider’s executive producers. He will also play a key role in the film.  Based on two decades of research, Delgado’s first fiction feature, The Outsider is described as an “intimate biopic” of photographer Claudia Andujar, who will be played by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. A Swiss-born Brazilian artist and activist who lost her family in the Holocaust, Andujar sought refuge in Brazil, finding inspiration, a connection to community and a need sense of belonging, depicting the Yanomami people via her photographic work.  When Brazil’s military dictatorship cuts …

Michael Jackson Movie Biopic Sequel Everything We Know

Michael Jackson Movie Biopic Sequel Everything We Know

Published by Sam Flores

THE MAN IN THE MIRROR So, if Chandler is off limits—and, potentially, any mention of child sexual abuse—what might be included in a Michael Jackson follow-up? Well, there’s a ton of music still on the table to be used, dramatized, and propelled back onto the streaming charts. The better part of four albums from Jackson’s discography are still up for grabs: Invincible (2001), HIStory (1995), Dangerous (1991), and the vast majority of Bad (1987). (Only the titular song off the album appears in the film.) This list contains plenty of earworms and memorable music videos, including but not limited to “Man in the Mirror,” “Smooth Criminal,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Black or White,” “Remember the Time,” “Jam,” “Heal The World,” and “Earth Song,” to name a few. A sequel could also cover iconic stage moments like Jackson’s 1991 performance of “Black and White” for MTV’s 10th anniversary, or his 1996 performance of “Earth Song” at the Brit Awards. As far as medleys go, the filmmakers could turn to Jackson’s 15-minute set at the …

FKA twigs to Star in Josephine Baker Biopic from StudioCanal

FKA twigs to Star in Josephine Baker Biopic from StudioCanal

Published by Daniella Wilson

It’s official: Grammy-winning singer FKA twigs is set to star as Josephine Baker in a feature biopic of the American-French entertainer’s trailblazing life, with French filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré (Cuties, Hawa) writing and directing. The project will launch international sales at the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off Tuesday, with shooting scheduled for the fall. StudioCanal is producing alongside Bien ou Bien Productions, the Bordeaux-based French outfit that produced Doucouré’s prior features, and will handle theatrical distribution across its core territories of France, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Benelux, Poland, Australia and New Zealand. “I cannot wait to embody Josephine Baker, bringing her fight, her love, her losses, her talent and her heroism to the big screen,” twigs said in a statement. “She lives on in our hearts as a visionary, ground-breaking woman whose story is as powerful as it is relevant today.” The film has been developed with the cooperation of Baker’s surviving sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker — both members of the Rainbow Tribe, the multi-ethnic family of 12 children Baker raised …

BBC Beatles drama of unknowns prepares to go head-to-head with Sam Mendes Hollywood biopic

BBC Beatles drama of unknowns prepares to go head-to-head with Sam Mendes Hollywood biopic

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Sam Mendes is not the only one making a Beatles biopic. For months, Hollywood has been buzzing about the forthcoming quartet of films from the Oscar-winning director, each focusing on a different member of the Fab Four. Released in theatres in 2028 and billed as a “Cinematic Event”, the blockbuster project features a starry cast of Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Barry Keoughan, and Joseph Quinn. With the backing of Apple Corps, Mendes also crucially has permission to include Beatles tracks such as “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be”. Fewer people will have heard about Hamburg Day, a six-part German drama airing on the BBC that will chronicle the early days of the band as they played the smoke-filled clubs of the German city. German series has begun filming in Hamburg, Munich and Liverpool (Gordon Timpen/SMPSP/W and B Television) Featuring a cast …

Spike Lee defends Michael biopic over omission of abuse allegations: ‘Movie ends in ‘88’

Spike Lee defends Michael biopic over omission of abuse allegations: ‘Movie ends in ‘88’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Spike Lee has defended Michael after many called out the omission of sexual abuse allegations against the popstar in the biopic, saying their criticism “doesn’t work in the timeline of the film”. Michael, which was approved and financed by the late pop singer’s estate, follows Michael Jackson from his early years in the Jackson 5 to the peak of his global fame in 1988, when he was touring the album Bad. The choice to conclude the story at that stage has prompted backlash, as the film does not engage with the child sexual abuse allegations made against him before his death in 2009 and instead leaves them out altogether. “I’ve seen [Michael] twice. Love it,” Lee told CNN’s Laura Coates. “First of all, if you’re a movie critic, and you’re complaining about all this other stuff, but the movie ends in …