Lionsgate motion picture chair Adam Fogelson said during a quarterly earnings call, as reported by Variety, that early preparations for the follow-up are progressing well.
“Preparations continue to go exceptionally well,” he said, adding that there remains “a ton of incredibly entertaining Michael Jackson story” that was not included in the first film.
He explained that many major moments from Jackson’s life and music career were left out of the original production, suggesting there is still enough material for a second film.
“There are so many other events that happened, even in the time frame of the original movie that weren’t touched upon, so we’re very, very confident that we’ve got an incredibly entertaining movie that will appeal once again to a global audience,” Fogelson said.
The first film, Michael, performed strongly at the box office, earning about $715.8m (£533.2m) worldwide after its release in April, with record-breaking openings in both the US and UK. The movie ended with Jackson’s 1988 Wembley Stadium performance during his Bad tour.
However, production of the film faced controversy linked to allegations of child sexual abuse against Jackson, which affected the original script and required significant changes.
Some planned content was removed after legal complications involving individuals connected to past settlements.
It remains unclear how a potential sequel will address these allegations, or whether it will follow a chronological storyline.
Fogelson suggested the narrative could move both forward and backward in time.
“We can go forwards and backwards in telling this story,” he said, adding that around “25 to 30% of a second movie” has already been filmed during earlier production work, which could also help reduce costs.
The studio based in the United States has not yet announced a release date for the sequel.
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