The Indo Daily
The Michael Jackson movie is a smash hit - should it have been made, though?
30 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the significance of the new Michael Jackson biopic?
Hey there, we are Indosport with me, John Molloy. We cover sport and we have things like this.
If you ask Arsenal's defenders, Gabriel and Saliba, to play in that PSG team or that Bayern team, they would be exposed as much as those centre-backs were last night. Because effectively, the attackers were on top. Then you ask the question, how many defenders were actually on the pitch last night? Because none of the full-backs have no interest in defending. They're like wingers.
And I've seen Saliba and Gabriel in an open game in that League Cup semi-final doubleheader against Newcastle last season get torn apart by Izak. I won't have anyone convince me that they can defend in that space. Last drink before bed should be water. If it's a big night out, then you go electrolytes. They're everywhere. It's like the new, last year and this year, it's like the new trend.
As ever, it's available on all podcast platforms.
This is an Irish independent podcast.
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Chapter 2: How did the film's troubled production affect its reception?
I knew how challenging this would be to take on playing Michael Jackson. And it was not easy. Definitely wasn't. I really had to earn the role and prove to the filmmakers that I was capable of becoming Michael.
They're dancing in the aisles to the tune of a $270 million opening weekend, and you can expect the box office numbers to keep on soaring. Almost 20 years on from the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop is alive as ever in the public consciousness, with his new biopic breaking records and seemingly delighting audiences worldwide.
The King of Pop is now officially King of the Box Office. Michael, the highly anticipated biopic about Michael Jackson, debuting at number one in theaters this weekend.
In fact, it doesn't seem to matter if the film's not actually good at all. The fans don't care because they tuned up. So even if it's crap, people just wanted a little more MJ in their life. Or how many troubling allegations continue to emerge about the late superstar?
This is a sanitized portrayal of an artist. The film will not do anything to cast the singer in a bad light whatsoever. He is so pure.
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Chapter 3: What controversies surround Michael Jackson's legacy?
He is so gifted, so talented. Songs just come like that. In his spare time, he goes to toy stores, buys everything and goes to hospitals and gives out those gifts to children. I thought that was quite tone deaf, to be honest. That this guy could do no wrong.
It would appear that Michael Jackson is the ultimate separate the art from the artist's success story. But why? I'm Kevin Doyle, and today on the Indo Daily I'm joined by the Irish independent film critic Chris Wasser to look at the trills and spills of Michael the Movie, go behind the scenes of its troubled production, and ask if his life should be celebrated and unchallenged in this fashion.
Chris Wasser, the Michael Jackson movie has arrived in Irish cinemas and I think we should be upfront and transparent for how this is going to play out. I have not seen the movie. You have seen the movie. But I think we should operate on the basis that most people have a fair idea of the Michael Jackson story, the good bits and the really bad bits.
The movie doesn't cover all of them and we'll get to that. But surprisingly... when we talk about the controversy around this, it's a box office hit.
Chapter 4: How has the audience responded to the film despite criticism?
Oh, it's a hit, Kevin. I mean, we're five days into the film's release in most international territories. And it made more in its first three days at cinemas than any other biographical film. So it grossed $217 million. And that's its entire production budget and a bit of change back.
Talking bigger than Bohemian Rhapsody.
Bigger than Bohemian Rhapsody, Oppenheimer. I think this thing cost $200 million to make. God knows how much it cost to market, maybe an additional $100 million. But when Oppenheimer was released in 2023, it made 180 million in its opening weekend. When Bohemian Rhapsody, a pre-pandemic release, was released in 2018, that made 124 million in its opening weekend.
So for the Michael Jackson film, as controversial as it is, and given the overwhelmingly negative response from critics, to gross that much money, 270 million is an astonishing feat. I wasn't expecting that. I did think when watching this, this thing is, despite its troubles, and there are a lot of troubles, this thing is going to be a hit. And bear in mind too, it hasn't been released everywhere.
Chapter 5: What elements of Michael Jackson's life are omitted in the biopic?
It's still to be released in Japan later this summer, and there's a huge Michael Jackson fan base there. So I think that figure is going to keep climbing.
Now, we're going to dive into some of this and what's in the movie and what's not in the movie, perhaps more important. But I have to ask, just to set the scene, in your view, is it doing that well because people are attracted to controversy? People like to watch something that they can then have an opinion on.
Or is it that there is a massive Michael Jackson fan base out there that just wants to go and see this movie in the same way people wanted to see the one about Elton John and people wanted to see other things like that?
Yeah, potentially the controversial aspect might have something to do with it. But if people are paying attention to the reviews, and I think they are, even the filmmakers have come out to defend themselves from the bad reviews, they'll know that there is nothing controversial in this film.
I think it's more to do with the fact that Michael Jackson, to a lot of people around the world, is still a sensation. He's in the top 50 of the most listened to artists on Spotify. His sales continue to soar in both physical album and streaming album releases. There is huge Cirque du Soleil show one in Vegas running that's been a huge hit.
There's a musical, MJ the Musical, that's been so successful. This show focuses very much on Michael's creative process, how he built a song, how he built a dance, how he put together a concept.
His music infiltrates so much of popular culture, and the storytelling that's being done is really beautiful.
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Chapter 6: How does the film portray Michael Jackson's family dynamics?
That was the reason that Graham King, who produced this thing, was turned on to the fact that, hey, maybe people might actually want to watch a film about this. Despite all the allegations, despite all the controversy, Michael Jackson, in the eyes of millions of fans worldwide, is still an icon.
Well, the pitch of the movie, I have seen the trailer for it. The pitch has these kind of like... blackout screens, which kind of tell you what to expect. And it has phrases like witness the rise, experience the genius, discover the legend. And then I read Chris Wasser's review in the Irish Independent and it says cartoonish and robotic.
Yeah, witness the rise and completely ignore the fall. Look, we've been subjected to some overly sanitized biopics over the years, Bohemian Rhapsody being a big one. And if you've seen the posters for this thing around town, it's on the side of every bus, every building and It does tell you that this is from the producers of Bohemian Rhapsody.
And that should be a way of telling audiences before they've even watched a single second of this thing that we're only going to get the good bits, that it feels like someone's gone through the Wikipedia entry from Michael Jackson and said, let's take all of the good stuff. Let's take all of the, oh, that bit about, you know, that record breaking live concert that he played. Let's film that bit.
Let's ignore all of the bad stuff again, which we'll come back to.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of the film's sanitized portrayal of Jackson?
And that's the kind of film that will give audiences. And that's the kind of film that it is. I mean, when I saw Melania earlier this year, Brett Ratner's just mind-numbing documentary about the First Lady of the United States. I thought, here is a cinematic puff piece to defeat all others.
The worst film you might see this year. Oh, we're not going to see a film worse than Melania this year.
I thought that anyway. And then along came Michael. If I can give any credit to Michael, which was, it has a good team behind it. Directed by Anton Foucault, who gave us Training Day. Written by John Logan, who co-wrote Gladiator. So there is a talented team there. Maybe a team that haven't had a hit in a while, but never mind that.
What intrigued you about wanting to do this? Michael.
Chapter 8: Are biopics like Michael here to stay in the film industry?
Michael just, he transcends, you know, any artist I've ever experienced in my life. I mean, he shaped my career as well because I watched Michael let himself get put in a box. He was the first artist, black artist on MTV. I watched Michael break out of the box and create music for everyone.
There's also a competent cast. Coleman Domingo is in this playing Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father. And I think a lot of people defending the film and saying that it's awards worthy or don't believe the reviews, they're focusing on Jafar Jackson's performance. What I thought of Jafar Jackson's performance is that it's a fabulous impersonation of his uncle.
He is Michael Jackson's real-life nephew, and he takes him off very, very well. But it's a party trick. The same way everything else in this film, it's all party tricks. It's all reconstructed concert footage, repetitive eulogies, these shoddy wigs, poor writing, no dramatic worth, no depth whatsoever.
It feels as though the filmmakers are just stringing together all these elements and saying, here, this is what a biopic is. That's not how these things work. There has to be some work to it. There has to be some drama involved, some exploration of the human behind the icon. There's none of that.
So I have a theory, Chris, to challenge your workmanship. Not the quality of your work, but just the tool of your trade, which is the stars, right? You've given this movie one star out of five. Now, I see all the data for everything people read on the Irish Independent, and this is exactly the same with the restaurant reviews.
When things get one star, they get read more than the things that get five stars. So how often do you dole out one star?
Oh, that's a really good question. I think I've given maybe three. three this year. So probably Melania. Someone's going to go through the reviews now and go, you've actually given 10. You're too harsh. Definitely for Melania and also for The Bride, which I thought was a dreadful film that really lets down its performers, including Jesse Buckley and Christian Bale.
And that's kind of what I thought here is that, again, going back to this thing that there is a competent cast in this thing. Some of them visibly uneasy with the material, Miles Teller and Coleman Domingo included. Are you giving it one star for what it leaves out or for what's actually on the screen in front of you? For what's actually on the screen in front of me.
That's the thing that I've been going around saying over the last few days that you can, and we will discuss the fact that this film completely ignores all of the controversy, all the allegations, all the troubles. And then you can focus on the fact that, you know, ask yourself the question, is it well made? It isn't. It isn't well acted. It isn't well shot. It's so poorly edited.
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