‘Leaving Neverland’ director Dan Reed wants to make a follow-up documentary about Michael Jackson’s sexual abuse trial.
The filmmaker explored accusations made by Wade Robson and James Safechuck against the late ‘Thriller’ hitmaker in the two-part series and he’s admitted he is keen to keep working on the scandal but only if Gavin Arvizo – who accused Jackson of molesting him – would consent to take part because he’s fascinated by the fact the King of Pop was acquitted of all charges in 2005 following an 18-month trial.
Asked if he’d like to make a sequel, he told Film School Rejects: "Oh yeah, I would love to do that. The film I would really like to make following this one is the trial of Michael Jackson.
"I could only do that if the victim and his family participate. It would be a much weaker film [if they didn’t.] I don’t want to follow ‘Leaving Neverland’ with a weaker film.
"If Gavin Arvizo and his family would agree to participate, I would very much like to tell the story of that trial. I think it’s fascinating and astonishing that Michael was acquitted.
"The way that happened is an amazing story and one that should be told. But no, I’m not going to just carry on making Michael Jackson films, that’s not my thing."
Dan revealed he also has a number of interviews carried out with police and those who investigated the allegations against the ‘Bad’ singer that didn’t make the cut in ‘Finding Neverland’ because he felt it was more important to focus on the alleged victims.
He said: "I shot interviews with LAPD and Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department who investigated. I had a great interview with the main prosecutor, the deputy DA from the 2005 trial.
"We hadn’t put those in because I had a strong feeling it needed to remain a claustrophobic story about two families.
"This was unseen and unheard and the first time Michael’s victims had really spoken out in any detail to the press about what happened.
"I thought that was an extraordinary new thing we have, and the other extraordinary thing we have is this sort of 360-degree insight into the family’s ordeal once the information about the abuse was disclosed. It becomes a drama…
"Four and 3/4 hours felt like a complete story and HBO agreed, and then it became a case of what do we take out and get it down to four hours, because we were all in agreement it shouldn’t be longer than four hours."
Dan Reed open to Leaving Neverland follow-up
