Michael director Antoine Fuqua has confirmed that a third of the footage he filmed for the Michael Jackson biopic doesn't appear in the final cut.
The biographical film, starring Jaafar Jackson as his uncle, was delayed by a year and underwent millions of pounds of reshoots after the team discovered they could not depict the 1993 child abuse allegations against Jackson due to a clause in a legal settlement between the accuser and the King of Pop.
During an interview with Deadline on Sunday, Fuqua revealed that he received the news after he'd finished his director's cut.
"It was an extra punch in the gut for me at that moment, because I was in the exact same situation with (the 2022 film) Emancipation. I was literally handing in the director's cut when Will (Smith) slapped Chris (Rock at the 2022 Oscars). I was floored and devastated and knew what that meant overall and that the movie would be written off," he shared. "This was a similar situation, because I was handing in the director's cut and I get this call. That was a tough day."
The Training Day filmmaker confirmed that a third of the footage in his director's cut was left on the cutting room floor and can potentially be used in a rumoured sequel. He also divulged that the film was supposed to cover events up until 1995, but because of the clause, they brought the conclusion forward to 1988.
"We went pretty far. We went through the Jordan (Chandler) allegations we couldn't use," he said. "We went farther than that. Maybe a year or two after that (1995) when things turned against Michael."
Fuqua explained that the prospect of not addressing the allegations against Jackson weighed heavily on his mind "for a while", and he, producer Graham King and screenwriter John Logan went through a "tough period" where they had to "rethink everything".
Together, they decided the film needed to "truly take (its) time", "go back to the beginning", and "plant the seeds" for the future of Jackson's story.
"It was important to take the audience through a process of how do you get to wherever it's going to go in a second movie; for people to get a bigger idea of his personality and what shaped him," he explained. "His arc was so extreme. It was important for us to go back, and give them a journey to go on with Michael... If you don't do that, you won't understand him and where the story goes."
While a sequel has yet to be confirmed, Fuqua noted that he is keen to direct the possible follow-up.
"I would like to, it's just about scheduling," he stated. "It would kill me if somebody else did it."
Despite negative reviews from critics, Michael has been a smash hit with cinemagoers. It made $217 million (£160 million) worldwide over the weekend, breaking the record for the best opening weekend for a biopic.
