A new Michael Jackson biopic is in the works.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ producer Graham King has secured permission from the late King of Pop’s estate to make a movie about his life and he has been granted the access to the star’s music for the movie, Deadling reports.
John Logan is writing the script for King’s GK Films but no studio is attached to the project at this point.
The movie will span Jackson’s life, from before he found fame as a child star with The Jackson Five, to his death in June 2009 at age 50.
King’s film is also expected to cover the sexual abuse allegations against Michael, which were made by a number of young boys, but which his family have always denied.
Meanwhile, there was good news for two of his most prominent accusers – Wade Robson and James Safechuck – recently, when they tentatively had the dismissal of their lawsuit against Jackson’s estate overturned.
The two men had previously filed claims against the late ‘Thriller’ hitmaker over allegations he abused them as children but their cases were dismissed in 2017, in part due to the statute of limitations expiring.
Both Wade and James had appealed their rulings and the cases were in appellate court, and now the California Court of Appeal have issued a tentative ruling which would overturn the dismissals, on the grounds of a new state law, which extended the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases.
However, according to TMZ, the judges may change their minds, but typically a tentative ruling stands, meaning the men can have their cases heard before a jury.
Michael’s estate have a number of other objections, but these would be addressed by the trial judge.
Wade and James’ allegations were the subject of an award-winning documentary, ‘Leaving Neverland’, which was released earlier this year.
The pair claimed in the bombshell HBO film that they were abused by the late King of Pop when they joined him on tour as children.
Wade alleged he was sexually abused by Michael from the age of seven until 14, while James claimed he was a victim from the age of 10 until he hit puberty.
The movie’s director Dan Reed defended the documentary and claimed that it shows the other side to what he called Michael’s "Peter Pan-ish image".
The Jackson estate has denied all allegations made against the singer and in August, another documentary, ‘Chase The Truth’, was released to defend the ‘Bad’ singer against the claims.
Michael Jackson biopic in the works
