The trailer for Michael, the upcoming biopic chronicling the life of Michael Jackson, dropped on November 7. And just like the King of Pop entertained more than half a million fans over his seven-show 1988 Bad World Tour stop at Wembley Stadium in London, this trailer pulled numbers: over 30 million views in its first six hours of release, according to Deadline.
In the just over a minute teaser, we’re painted a picture of the Michael Jackson people know: his iconic Thriller pose, Jackson clutching his historic eight Grammy awards in 1984, his incredible footwork across videos and concerts —from spins to the moonwalk —in his signature black-and-white outfits. It’s the young phenom from the Jackson 5, turned global superstar in all his glory, complete with fans fainting as he performs. The trailer serves up the Jackson mystique: the ascent, the performance, the legend.
But Jackson’s life was far from perfect, and the trailer poses questions about whether the movie will address some of the more complicated issues of his life. That territory has never been pretty: alleged abuse charges, legal battles, and his untimely death. Yes, this is also part of his story.
Michael director Antoine Fuqua has said on record that this film would revisit Jackson’s life honestly and not shy away from some of the controversies the singer faced. The film seeks to “tell the facts as we know it about the artist, about the man, about the human being … the good, bad, and the ugly,” Fuqua stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Indeed, to embrace Jackson in his fullness, we need to see all sides of his complexity: his brilliance, his kindness, his peculiarity, and his fears. The story must settle in the darkness the same way it rises in the light, not to villianize or disparage his name, but to give him levels of humanity that we all face.
The Michael trailer is as polished as one of Jackson’s signature past concerts. We can only hope that the movie delves not only into what we’ve been able to see of Michael Jackson, but also what we never saw. We’re ready for a complete composite of the man, the myth, and the making of greatness.
Michael is set to land in theaters on April 24, 2026.