A day after its release, the trailer for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic became the most-viewed first-look of any music biopic in history, according to reports. Released on Thursday, the Michael trailer has garnered more than 7 million views in two days, on the Lionsgate channel alone.
Jaafar Jackson, nephew of the late Michael Jackson, plays his uncle in the film that is expected to recreate several milestones of the King of Pop, from his Jackson 5 days through "Thriller" to his final days. It's not yet clear whether the film will explore the more controversial side of the legendary singer, songwriter, and dancer.
Aside from Jaafar, the cast list features Oscar nominee Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson and Nia Long as Katherine Jackson. The rest of the cast includes Kat Graham, Laura Harrier, Derek Luke, Larenz Tate, and Miles Teller, among others.
It is produced by Graham King, who also produced the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Michael has a script by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan.
About director Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua is one of the most versatile filmmakers working in Hollywood today. An electrical engineering graduate, Fuqua dabbled in music videos first before foraying into feature filmmaking, like another accomplished contemporary, David Fincher.
After his directorial debut with the Chow Yun-fat action vehicle The Replacement Killers, Fuqua went on to prove his expertise in both drama and action genres.
His most well-known work includes his multiple collaborations with Denzel Washington, starting with the Oscar-winning Training Day, which was followed by another fruitful collaboration in The Equalizer trilogy. For the former, Denzel won the Best Actor Oscar, while his co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category.
Both properties tasted significant box office success. The combined worldwide gross of The Equalizer trilogy totals nearly $600 million.
Fuqua has worked with Jake Gyllenhaal twice, on the sports drama Southpaw, and the English-language remake of the Danish thriller The Guilty.
Fuqua recently directed a Denzel Washington-fronted remake of the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven, itself a remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic, The Seven Samurai.
Notably, he directed and executive-produced HBO’s critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning Muhammad Ali documentary What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali.
