Lede

The funniest part of Michael was not in the film – it was cinema advertising the streaming platforms that are slowly sharpening the shovel behind its back.

Hermit Off Script

I went to see Michael in IMAX, and before the film even began, the cinema decided to roast itself with the enthusiasm of a man selling umbrellas during his own flood. HBO subscription advert first, then memories of adverts on other occasions of Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and all the other little household gods of the sofa. Cinema looked us in the eye and whispered: “Please enjoy the premium theatrical experience, and here is where you can eventually stop needing us.” Beautiful. Tragic. Very corporate. For now, IMAX still wins. No home setup, no matter how smug, gets close to that wall of image and sound. In a normal screen, though, my home already fights back with its shoes off and a cup of tea nearby. Give technology another 10 years, maybe 20 to 30 years, and the old cinema model may end up like a dusty popcorn machine in a museum labelled “Before People Had Better Speakers Than Patience”. Then the film starts, and suddenly I am back in childhood, when Bad was everywhere, even in the grey sadness of communist country. That album came out on August 31, 1987, and somehow Michael’s music travelled where ordinary joy needed a passport. But watching the film, I could not escape the obvious: Jaafar Jackson has grace, effort and family resemblance, but the real spark of Michael Jackson cannot be photocopied. The sound, the dance, the odd lightning in the bones – that is not acting. That is possession by rhythm. And of course my brain immediately went where it always goes: AI. In 10 years, possibly less, Hollywood will be able to rebuild dead celebrities so closely that actors will need lawyers, priests and a decent pension plan. For now, the human attempt is noble, but the ghost still dances better. The movie works best when it shows the cost: a child turned into a product, a family machine, a father who mistakes parenthood for ownership, and fame arriving so early that real life never gets a proper seat. It explains the loneliness, the strangeness, the adult wounds grown from stolen childhood. Still, as a biopic, Elvis felt stronger to me, partly because Austin Butler could chase the silhouette without fighting a myth this biologically specific. Elvis could be approached. Michael can only be orbited. One film gives you a performance. The other gives you a reminder that some stars become impossible to cast because the original already looked unreal.

Michael (2026) | Official Trailer

The Child Behind the Crown

Michael follows Michael Jackson’s rise from a strict family home and the Jackson 5 years into the machinery of superstardom, tracing the cost of genius when childhood is treated less like a life and more like a business asset. The film is at its strongest when it shows the pressure, loneliness and family control behind the glitter, even if it still walks carefully around the sharper broken glass of the full story. Official materials describe it as the story of Jackson’s life beyond the music, from the discovery of his talent as lead singer of the Jackson 5 onwards, while reports note that the film focuses heavily on his rise and peak up to the Bad era.

The Ghost Still Dances Better

Cinema gives you Michael in IMAX, then advertises streaming subscriptions before the film like a man selling his house keys during his own eviction. The movie itself is a polished moonwalk through memory: dazzling enough to justify the big screen, cautious enough to make you feel the lawyers were dancing just outside the frame. Jaafar Jackson gets close to the outline, but the real Michael had that impossible spark – the sort of lightning you cannot teach, clone, or squeeze into a biopic without the ghost asking for better choreography.

Cast and credits

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writers: John Logan
Genre: Biography, drama, history, music
Main cast: Jaafar Jackson, Juliano Valdi, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Miles Teller, Laura Harrier
Composer: Lior Rosner
Production company/studio: Lionsgate, GK Films, Optimum Productions
Runtime: 127 minutes
Release year and platform: 2026, theatrical cinema and IMAX

What does not make sense

• Cinema advertising streaming subscriptions before a theatrical film is like a butcher handing out vegan sausage coupons at the counter.
• The film asks us to believe in the sacred magic of the big screen while the pre-show quietly explains how to leave the building forever.
• IMAX proves cinema still has a throne, but ordinary screens increasingly feel like expensive living rooms with worse snacks.
• A biopic about Michael Jackson is always fighting an unwinnable battle: if the actor is too different, it fails; if he is too close, it becomes waxwork theatre.
• The film shows how a child can be turned into a family asset, then asks us to enjoy the glitter without choking on the invoice.
• Hollywood still thinks nostalgia is a business plan. It is, until the ghosts ask for royalties.

Sense check / The numbers

1. Michael was released in UK cinemas on April 24, 2026, with a listed running time of 127 minutes and BBFC content advice including moderate threat and domestic abuse. [BBFC]
2. The film opened with $97 million in the US and Canada and $217.4 million globally, a record opening for a music biopic according to AP. [AP]
3. AP reported that the production cost came close to $200 million, with reshoots after legal restrictions forced changes to the third act. [AP]
4. UK and Ireland cinema admissions reached 134 million in 2025, down 3 per cent from 138 million in 2024, while the sector still delivered 4 per cent of world box office from 1 per cent of the global population. [Film Distributors’ Association]
5. UK cinema admissions once hit 1.64 billion in 1946, then fell to 54 million in 1984 before multiplex investment helped the sector recover. [UK Cinema Association]

The sketch

Scene 1: The Confession Trailer
Panel description: A cinema screen glows in a dark auditorium. The audience waits for Michael. Instead, a streaming advert appears like a priest reading last rites.
Dialogue:
Cinema: “Please silence your phones.”
Streaming advert: “And remember, you can replace this entire building for £9.99.”

Scene 2: The Ghost Audition
Panel description: A young actor stands under a spotlight in a white glove. Behind him, a giant shadow moonwalks perfectly across the wall.
Dialogue:
Actor: “I studied every move.”
Shadow: “Lovely. Now become lightning.”

Scene 3: The Family Invoice
Panel description: A child sings on stage while a parent figure holds a ledger instead of a hand. The crowd cheers, but the child looks towards an empty playground.
Dialogue:
Parent: “You owe us everything.”
Child: “I thought I was born, not leased.”

What to watch, not the show

• The cinema industry selling spectacle while training audiences to wait for the subscription version.
• The premium gap: IMAX still feels irreplaceable, but ordinary screens are easier to beat at home.
• The family-machine problem: talent treated as shared property because blood is confused with ownership.
• The biopic trap: the more iconic the subject, the less freedom the actor has to be human.
• The nostalgia economy: studios selling emotional memory because original cultural lightning is harder to make.
• The coming AI problem: dead stars, digital likenesses, synthetic performances and the legal mudslide waiting behind them.
• The moral edit: authorised biographies often polish the statue while the cracks remain visible from space.

The Hermit take

Michael works as spectacle and memory, especially in IMAX.
But the real masterpiece was cinema advertising its own replacement before the first frame.

Keep or toss

Keep / Toss.

Keep the IMAX thunder, the childhood ache, the reminder that stolen childhood becomes adult loneliness.
Toss the industry denial, the streaming subscription adverts before theatrical films, and the fantasy that a legend can be reproduced like a barcode with better cheekbones.

Sources

• BBFC film listing: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/michael-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzntez
• AP News box office report: https://apnews.com/article/michael-jackson-movie-box-office-9cd10825b6ced69aaa96c6e575ea9d2d
• UK Cinema Association annual admissions: https://www.cinemauk.org.uk/the-industry/facts-and-figures/uk-cinema-admissions-and-box-office/annual-admissions/
• Film Distributors’ Association 2025 admissions report: https://filmdistributorsassociation.com/2026/01/uk-and-ireland-cinema-admissions-cross-130m-mark-for-third-year-running/
• BFI 2024 UK film statistics: https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/official-bfi-statistics-2024
• IMDb listing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11378946/
• Official Michael movie site: https://michael.movie/
• Bad album release reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_%28album%29