Michael Jackson Biopic Attracts Gen Zers, Americans
The music biopic has been one of Hollywood’s go-to genres for years, often finding success at both the box office and during awards season.
In the last two decades alone, Jamie Foxx won the Oscar for best actor in 2005 for his portrayal of Ray Charles, while Rami Malek won the same award for playing Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in 2019 and Renee Zellweger won best actress the following year playing Judy Garland. Next month, Austin Butler is up for best actor for playing the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in “Elvis.”
The industry’s next major music biopic might be its most controversial to date. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. is developing a film about the life of the late pop star Michael Jackson, who has been accused of sexually abusing children by multiple people, most recently in the 2019 explosive HBO docuseries “Leaving Neverland.” The Antoine Fuqua-directed film will reportedly “not shy away from the controversies of Jackson’s life,” according to Deadline.
New Morning Consult data shows that 56% of U.S. adults are interested in watching the Jackson film — the highest share of any of the upcoming biopics included in the survey. Gen Zers were even more interested, with 3 in 4 of the cohort saying they want to see the film.
The biopic boom
Following the success of last year’s “Elvis,” which made $151 million at the domestic box office, moviegoers can expect, well, more Elvis: A24’s “Priscilla,” directed by Sofia Coppola and adapted from the 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me,” will focus on the relationship between Priscilla Presley and Elvis with Cailee Spaeny and “Euphoria” actor Jacob Elordi starring as the couple.
Controversy surrounds several other upcoming biopics, namely the Jackson film. “Leaving Neverland” director Dan Reed slammed the upcoming movie in an op-ed for The Guardian, saying it will “glorify a man who abused children,” while others have questioned whether the Jackson estate’s involvement in the film will water down the controversies surrounding the singer.
But Hollywood moves full steam ahead. While Americans are relatively split on the ethics of these biopics, they’re still largely interested in watching them — including the most controversial one above all others.
The Feb. 3-5, 2023, survey was conducted among a representative sample of 2,213 U.S. adults, with an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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