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Jaafar Jackson, born into music royalty as the son of Jermaine Jackson, will soon step into the role of his iconic uncle, Michael Jackson. The 26-year-old performer has plenty of experience as a singer and dancer and will bring that talent to the screen in the upcoming biopic, Michael.
As exclusively reported by Deadline, Jaafar Jackson will play the late, great King Of Pop in the Antonie Fuqua biopic, currently under development by Lionsgate. Jaafar’s father, Jermaine, was a member of The Jackson 5 along with Jaafar’s influential uncle and has been singing and dancing since the age of 12 according to the outlet. With Fuqua in the director’s chair, the script comes from Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, who also won a Tony Award for the play Red.
Deadline adds that production on Michael will begin later this year as Fuqua wraps the filming of The Equalizer 3 with Denzel Washington.
Jackson shared the news of him playing his uncle with a photo showing him practicing some of those famous MJ moves.
“I’m humbled and honored to bring my Uncle Michael’s story to life. To all the fans all over the world, I’ll see you soon,” Jaafar wrote in the caption to the post on Monday (Jan. 30).
Michael does not have a release date yet.
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Photo: Gabriel Olsen / Getty
Keeping it in the family. Michael Jackson‘s nephew Jaafar Jackson has officially been cast to portray the King of Pop in Lionsgate’s upcoming biopic, Michael, according to director Antoine Fuqua.
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“Proud to announce @jaafarjackson as Michael — the motion picture event that explores the journey of the man who became the King of Pop. Coming soon,” Fuqua captioned a photo posted to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 30), in which Jaafar is seen dressed as his late uncle, striking one of the icon’s signature poses in the dance studio.
The film will take on the musician’s life and career and will be produced by Graham King (Bohemian Rhapsody) and John Branca and John McClain, who are the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate. There is no information yet surrounding release date and how much of Michael’s life the biopic will dive into.
“Jaafar embodies my son. It’s so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers,” said Katherine Jackson, mother of Michael Jackson, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
In a career that spanned throughout almost his entire life, the King of Pop had 13 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. He first saw success as part of the family band the Jackson 5, and four of their songs topped the Hot 100.
As a solo artist, Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller became one of the best-selling albums of all time and spent an impressive 37 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Additionally, its seven singles all reached the top 10 of the Hot 100.
Jackson died on June 25, 2009 at age 50.
On Tuesday (Nov. 8), Britney Spears put to rest any speculation of a biopic about her life and career coming anytime soon.
“Yeah I know I’ve posted too much this week on Instagram… kinda fun though !!! Now that I’m breathing … I have time … it’s different !!! I like it !!!” she posted alongside an artsy photo of a set of doors. “I hear about people wanting to do movies about my life … dude I’m not dead !!!”
Without naming names, the “Hold Me Closer” singer’s thoughts on a potential movie adaptation of her life came hours after Millie Bobby Brown claimed that playing Spears would be her dream role in an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show. “I think her story, first of all, resonates with me,” the 18-year-old Stranger Things actress said on the show. “Growing up in the public eye, watching her videos, watching interviews of her when she was young…And I don’t know her, but when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I could tell her story in the right way — and hers only.”
However, after shooting down the possibility of a biopic, Spears immediately turned her ire on her parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, over keeping her in the legal conservatorship that controlled her life for 13 years. “Although it’s pretty f—ing clear they preferred me dead,” she continued in her lengthy caption followed by a series of eye-rolling emojis. “I guess my family is going to lock their doors now.”
Meanwhile, if Spears isn’t down to work with her, Brown still has her secret collaborations with pal Mariah Carey to focus on, having hinted on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon recently that she’s already recorded music with the Elusive Chanteuse herself.
Read Britney’s latest Instagram post in full below.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is just days away from premiering on The Roku Channel, and “Weird Al” Yankovic himself stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the parody on musician biopics.
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Notably, Fallon mentions that Evan Rachel Wood portrays Madonna, who plays a major part in the film. The host then asks Yankovic to reveal the true nature of his relationship with the Queen of Pop. “There are a few little nuggets of truth spread throughout the biopic,” he said. “Our relationship is platonic, by the way. The only time I actually met her was in 1985, and I talked to her for maybe, like, 45 seconds backstage. That’s the extent of the whole relationship.”
“She’s in the whole movie, by the way,” Fallon notes, to which Yankovic replies with a laugh, “Oh, she’s a huge part of the movie.”
The duo then discuss the famous “Yankovic bump,” in which an artist’s song gets a sales boost after Weird Al does a parody. In the film, the concept is hilariously exaggerated, with Madonna doing anything to get the “Yankovic bump.”
In real life, however, the boost happened to stars like Nirvana. “My ‘Smells Like Nirvana’ parody came out, and we got call from Nirvana’s record label saying thank you,” Yankovic recalled, adding that thanks to his song, the band’s Nevermind album sold an extra million units.
Watch the full Tonight Show interview with Yankovic below, and catch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, on The Roku Channel starting on Nov. 4.
