Michael sequel will offer ‘more insight’ into child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson, reveals Jaafar Jackson

The sequel to Michael , the biopic of late pop icon Michael Jackson , may delve deeper into the child sexual abuse allegations against the King of Pop, his nephew Jaafar Jackson has said in a new interview. Jaafar played Michael in the film, which was a commercial success, minting over $1 billion worldwide, but drew criticism for not dealing with the biggest controversy of the late pop star's career.

In a new interview with People, Jaafar admitted he does not have a say in which aspects of Michael Jackson's later life will be portrayed in the sequel, but expressed hope that the film would allow his uncle's voice to be heard.

“I think the second film will give even more insight from his point of view, because at the end of the day, [the allegations] are always from someone else's,” Jaafar said. “It's someone else's story. It's someone else's idea of what it is, and it's mainly driven by an agenda. And that's really the issue we've been having as a family, not having Michael's voice being heard. I think that's very, very important, especially in the late years.”

Reflecting on the first film and his hopes for its sequel, Jaafar said the first movie focused on Michael's early years to establish his personality and character. “This first film focuses on Michael from his roots. You understand who he was as a human being first, because at the end of the day, that's who he was in the '90s until he passed,” he said.

Michael Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50, faced child sexual abuse allegations beginning in the 1990s. He faced accusations from multiple children for years, alleging he was inappropriate with them and molested them. Michael denied all allegations and was never found guilty in any of the investigations and cases.

The episode does not appear in Michael, the film directed by Antoine Fuqua that was released earlier this year. The director had earlier confirmed that the original version included scenes addressing the allegations, but later the film was re-edited and re-shot to end its story in 1988, a few years before the allegations surfaced.

The biopic, written by John Logan, follows the Jackson family's rise to fame from their early success with Motown Records in the late 1960s through Michael's hugely successful solo career and the release of his album Bad in the late 1980s. Jaafar, the son of Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson, led the film alongside Colman Domingo, who played the Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson, and Nia Long, who portrayed Katherine Jackson.

The sequel to Michael is already in development. Actor Miles Teller, who played Michael's lawyer-manager John Branca in the first film, confirmed in May that a follow-up was being planned. Earlier this month, Lionsgate head Adam Fogelson said the studio was targeting a production start for the sequel towards the end of this year or early next year. Michael is the highest-grossing biopic of all time, earning over $1 billion worldwide.

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times.