A new development in the long-planned movie suggests that the film will have to undergo some major reshoots over an ongoing legal issue.
According to a new report from Matthew Belloni’s Puck newsletter, years before the Michael movie was in production, Jackson’s estate agreed to never include the Chandler family in any movie or project about the star.
Belloni notes that a signed agreement between the families prohibits the Chandlers — who were at the center of the infamous trial against Jackson for child molestation — from being used in any dramatization.
The issue with the Michael Jackson movie, the newsletter notes, is that a large portion of the third act of the planned biopic of the music legend involves the infamous lawsuit against Jackson by Jordan Chandler, a then-13-year-old who alleged that Jackson molested him.
The report mentions that the film paints Jackson as innocent throughout this process and a scene in the movie includes Jackson meeting his lawyers and hearing audio of Chandler’s father threatening to “destroy” Jackson’s career.