The first film, released in April, closed with the 1987 "Bad" tour. It went on to become the highest-grossing biopic in cinema history, crossing the $1 billion mark worldwide—a milestone no other music biopic has reached. The film's release also sent Jackson's catalogue back up the UK charts, where "The Essential" has now spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the Official Albums Streaming chart.

Now the studio behind that film, Lionsgate, has confirmed plans for a sequel. Adam Fogelson, the head of the studio's motion picture group, told investors on a teleconference that filming is expected to begin at the end of this year or early 2027, with a release slated for the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028. Fogelson noted that the studio already has material in hand: "We have several sequences, especially some important musical sequences, that were filmed previously and will almost certainly be incorporated," he said.

The first film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring the singer's nephew Jaafar Jackson, deliberately stopped short of the controversies that marked Jackson's later career. It concluded with the 1987 "Bad" tour, omitting the accusations of child sexual abuse that dogged him. The sequel is expected to address the era of the album "Dangerous" and those accusations, though production has not officially confirmed the plot. The initial film had originally sought to include those elements, but a clause in an agreement with one of the accusers prevented the studio from portraying him in any film, forcing a restructure of the story.

The decision to forge ahead with a sequel comes amid extraordinary commercial returns. The first film earned $1.016 billion globally, with $372 million in North America and $643 million internationally. Critics, however, complained that "Michael" offered a watered-down view of its subject's life by omitting the allegations, a criticism that the sequel's expected focus on the "Dangerous" era may finally address.

Fogelson's remarks suggest the sequel will lean on footage already in the can. "We are focused right now on how to make sure we can offer, at the right price, the best possible sequel," he said. "That is what the public will want and deserve after the experience we gave them the first time." The promise of untold musical numbers, filmed but never seen, offers a curious counterpoint to the legal constraints that once silenced them. Whether the new film will finally let the shadows in, or merely stage another spectacular show, remains the open question.