Director, Producer Reportedly Paid Extra $25m To Scrub Abuse Allegations In Michael Jackson Biopic

The makers of the new Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, were reportedly paid a massive $25 million bonus after removing child sexual abuse allegations from the film.

According to a Bloomberg report, director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King received additional payments from the Michael Jackson estate. Fuqua reportedly received an additional $15 million, while King took home an extra $10 million on top of their original deals.

The sudden change in the film’s content was reportedly due to a legal issue. A clause in a 1994 settlement with accuser Jordan Chandler barred his depiction from being used for commercial purposes. Attorneys for the estate reportedly realised this only after several scenes had already been filmed, resulting in weeks of expensive reshoots.

To protect the film’s box-office potential, the movie was altered to focus solely on Jackson’s rise to fame up to his 1988 Bad tour, five years before the first public allegations were made.

While the film debuted in theatres on Friday with a high audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics have been less impressed, giving it only 37%. Lionsgate, the studio behind the project, has hinted that a sequel addressing the allegations could be made if there is sufficient public demand.