Lionsgate film chairman Adam Fogelson confirmed on a May 21 earnings call that a sequel to the studio's Michael Jackson biopic Michael is in active development, with roughly a quarter of it already shot. "We think we've got 25 to 30% of a second movie already shot from the prior production activity," Fogelson said, framing it as a financial advantage that would still produce "a big and satisfying movie for a global audience once again."
When Michael shot in 2024, director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King filmed material covering decades more of Michael Jackson's career than the final theatrical cut used. After the June 2025 reshoots and a legal review that removed references to the allegations, the studio cut hard — the released film ends with the start of the 1987 Bad tour. Everything past that point sat unused.
That unused footage is now the seed of Michael 2. Fogelson didn't specify which scenes survive, but the obvious candidates are the Dangerous-era material (1991–1993), the HIStory period (1995–1997), the Invincible sessions (2001), and the 2009 This Is It rehearsals — the eras that would have been on the original shooting plan for a longer cut. Reshooting only the connective scenes is significantly cheaper than a fresh production — which is the financial argument Fogelson is making.
The first Michael opened in April 2026 and has grossed more than $700 million worldwide against a reshoot-inflated budget of $155–200M — a clear blockbuster for Lionsgate. A sequel that recycles 25% of its production budget upfront is an even more attractive proposition than the first one was. Pair that with Netflix's three-part documentary Michael Jackson: The Verdict, premiering June 3, and the continued cultural demand for MJ content — the financial case is clear.
The deeper question is whether the sequel can do what the first film couldn't: actually engage with the 1993 allegations and the 2005 trial. Fogelson didn't address that on the call. Bad-through-Dangerous era footage exists from the original shoot, which means the production has already committed to depicting some part of the controversies. Whether the studio depicts them well, or whether it cuts around them the way the first film did, is the only thing about Michael 2 that actually matters.
Release window has not been announced; reshoots have not begun publicly. Fogelson framed the timeline as "really exciting progress" without committing to a calendar year. Realistically, a 2027 release is on the table if reshoots happen in late 2026. Lionsgate's earnings call signaled enough confidence that the project will move — the question is which version of Michael Jackson's story the second film is willing to tell.
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