Mark Binelli

And the film, it was kind of a sensation.

It was all over social media and it had basically reset the conversation around Jackson in a way that was completely opposite everything the estate had been working to do, which was to keep the focus on the music and not the man and the controversies surrounding the man.

Now that's all that everybody could think about.

It would seem so, but the estate essentially had a two-pronged strategy.

First, they went hard after the film itself, Leaving Neverland.

And they did it in a pretty unusual way.

They went back and found a contract that Michael Jackson had signed with HBO in 1992 when they aired a concert film live from Bucharest.

And in the contract, there was some fairly standard language, non-disparagement language.

And...

The lawyers for the estate argued that airing Leaving Neverland 30 years later was a violation of that non-disparagement clause, a pretty unusual argument to be making.

But eventually, neither side will talk about what happened except to say that it was amicably settled.

But they did reach a settlement, and you can't find Leaving Neverland on HBO's platforms anymore.

Yeah, there's no way to watch the film in the U.S.

legally.

They also thought about making their own documentary.

And instead, they decided to make a biopic, which could be the ultimate brand reset.

So they start putting together this A-list team of talent.

They get Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day and the Equalizer franchise.

Jafar Jackson, his nephew, plays Michael.

They have Graham King producing.