Lionsgate Boss Reveals the Path to Michael 2

Well, that didn’t take long. Less than a week out from Michael Jackson’s new biopic landing in theaters, Lionsgate is already openly kicking around the idea of a sequel. Apparently, turning one of pop culture’s most complicated legacies into a single, tidy movie was never really in the cards—and, honestly? That doesn’t surprise me at all.

The Biopic That Instantly Became Two (Or More?)

At CinemaCon, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson talked with Business Insider and flat-out confirmed that they’re planning on expanding Michael into a multi-movie saga. The sequel idea isn’t just wishful thinking: according to Fogelson, the rough production journey of the first film pretty much forced their hand.

Here’s how it shook out:

• The Director: Antoine Fuqua (he did Training Day, so yes, he knows how to do complicated men).
• The Star: Jaafar Jackson, who is actually Michael’s nephew. (So, family drama baked right in.)
• The Original Plan: The movie was supposed to include the infamous 1993 police raid on Neverland Ranch, all stemming from allegations brought by 13-year-old Jordan Chandler.
• The Legal Roadblock: Turns out, Chandler's settlement with Jackson had a specific clause preventing that whole case from being dramatized in a movie at all.
• The Fallout: Tons of expensive reshoots, with Variety pegging the bill for the Jackson estate at about $15 million—and all the sexual abuse allegation material got stripped out.

So, Michael now avoids any real mention of the biggest controversies of Jackson’s life. That’s a pretty major re-tooling.

Why Not Tell the Whole Story? (Oh Right, the Lawyers.)

Fogelson admits he’s always been uneasy about cramming everything into a single movie. In his words:

'I was always excited by the possibility that you could make a more complete and satisfying telling of Michael's story if you weren’t confined to only one movie.'

In other words, if you can’t get into the rough stuff in part one, maybe just kick the tough questions (and lawsuits) down the road to part two?

So What Could Michael 2 Even Cover?

The door's wide open for a sequel to dig into more of the highs and lows—think: musical triumphs, plenty of weirdness, and yes, probably addressing the controversies they avoided the first time.

Fogelson says he’s game, if producer Graham King, Fuqua, and screenwriter John Logan want to go there. And his whole angle is that future films could (allegedly) give audiences a more "authentic" picture of who Michael Jackson really was.

So for now, the first Michael is in theaters—just don’t expect it to give you the whole truth and nothing but. There’s a good shot Lionsgate isn’t done moonwalking around the singer’s legacy yet.