Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in Michael. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Lionsgate
“Y’all willin’ to fight for it?” asks Joe Jackson of his sons in the brand new trailer for MICHAEL.
From director Antoine Fuqua and starring Jaafar Jackson, Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Krue Valdi, with Miles Teller, and Colman Domingo, MICHAEL is in theaters and IMAX April 24
MICHAEL is the cinematic portrayal of the life and legacy of one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. The film tells the story of Michael Jackson’s life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world. Highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career, the film gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before.
Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson in Michael. Photo Credit: Courtesy of LionsgateJudah Edwards as Young Tito, Jaylen Hunter as Young Marlon, Juliano Krue Valdi as Young MJ, Nathaniel McIntyre as Young Jackie and Jayden Harville as Young Jermaine in Michael. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate
MICHAEL is the cinematic portrayal of the life and legacy of one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. The film tells the story of Michael Jackson’s life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world. Highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career, the film gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before. This is where his story begins.
In theaters on April 24, 2026, MICHAEL stars Jaafar Jackson, Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Krue Valdi, with Miles Teller, and Colman Domingo.
From director Antoine Fuqua with a screenplay by John Logan, watch the first teaser for MICHAEL.
Michael Jackson had 13 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 during his solo career. This list includes collaborations with other artists. https://www.michaeljackson.com/the-artist/
Michael Jackson’s solo #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100
“Ben” (1972): The title track from his second solo album.
“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (1979): The first single released from his Off the Wall album.
“Rock with You” (1980): A single from the Off the Wall album.
“Billie Jean” (1983): The iconic single from the album Thriller.
“Beat It” (1983): Also from the Thriller album.
“Say Say Say” (1983): A duet with Paul McCartney.
“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” (1987): A duet with Siedah Garrett, from the album Bad.
“Bad” (1987): The title track from the album.
“The Way You Make Me Feel” (1988): Another #1 hit from the Bad album.
“Man in the Mirror” (1988): From the album Bad.
“Dirty Diana” (1988): The fifth consecutive single from Bad to reach #1, a record for a male artist.
“Black or White” (1991): The first single from the album Dangerous.
“You Are Not Alone” (1995): Became the first song in Billboard Hot 100 history to debut at #1.
Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in MICHAEL. Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur
Worldwide audiences received their first look today at Jaafar Jackson in performance as Michael Jackson, bringing to life the “Man in the Mirror” from the legendary 1992-1993 Dangerous Tour.
The iconic photo, captured by renowned photographer Kevin Mazur, was released by Lionsgate and Universal Pictures International, the studios behind the much-anticipated April 18, 2025 film “Michael.”
The choice to have Mazur capture the first-look photograph of Jaafar Jackson is as intentional as so many of the artistic choices the producers have made. As one of the photographers who documented Michael over many years, Mazur captured rehearsals as he prepared to entertain the world with his “This Is It” concerts. He is now also the first to photograph Jaafar Jackson in character as Michael.
“When I arrived for my first day on the set of this movie, I was so excited – it was like the first time I went on tour to shoot Michael Jackson,” said Mazur. “When I walked onto the set, I felt like I’d gone back in time and I was walking into the stadium to shoot the tour. Seeing Jaafar perform, I thought, ‘Wow, it is Michael.’ The way he looks and acts, his mannerisms, everything – he’s Michael Jackson. For anyone who didn’t have the chance to see Michael perform live during his lifetime – this is how it was.”
“With Jaafar, every look, every note, every dance move is Michael,” said producer Graham King. “He embodies Michael in a way that no other actor could.”
Director Antoine Fuqua added, “We have assembled an incredible team of artists for this project – hair & makeup, costumes, cinematography, choreography, lighting, everything – and some who knew and worked with Michael are reuniting for this film. But most importantly, it’s Jaafar who embodies Michael. It goes beyond the physical resemblance. It’s Michael’s spirit that comes through in a magical way. You have to experience it to believe it.”
Lionsgate and Universal Pictures International have slated the worldwide release for April 18th 2025. The film is now in production.
Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson will be introduced to worldwide audiences in the starring role of the beloved musical icon. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer films) will direct the film with Oscar® winner Graham King/GK Films (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Aviator, The Departed) producing, from a script by three-time Oscar® nominee John Logan.
Michael will bring audiences a riveting and honest portrayal of the brilliant yet complicated man who became known worldwide as the King of Pop. The film presents his triumphs and tragedies on an epic, cinematic scale — from his human side and personal struggles to his undeniable creative genius, captured by his most iconic performances. As never before, audiences will experience an inside look into one of the most influential, trailblazing artists the world has ever known.
Michael is produced by King and the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate, John Branca and John McClain. Lionsgate is distributing the film domestically, while Universal Pictures International will handle all territories apart from Japan, which Lionsgate will oversee.
Will Smith and Ben Foster in “Emancipation,” now streaming on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple Studios
An unrecognizable Will Smith stars as an enslaved man in Civil War era Louisiana, who decides upon hearing about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to escape from a labor camp through the bayou in an attempt to reach Union forces in Baton Rouge, in Antoine Fuqua’s EMANCIPATION. Will Smith’s character was inspired by a real person, the man with the heavily scarred back in the famous Civil War photo, who really did escape slavery to reach an Union encampment. The photo, known as “Whipped Peter” or “the Scourged Back,” was widely circulated during the Civil War and was instrumental in convincing Northerners of the truth of the brutality of slavery.
EMANCIPATION is a true-story inspired tale of the Civil War South without the mint juleps and “Gone with the Wind” fantasy. As the film opens, we see enslaved blacksmith Peter (Will Smith) living a hard life on the plantation of Captain John Lyons (Jayson Warner Smith), along with his wife Dodienne (Charmaine Bingwa) and their children. It is two years into the Civil war when Confederate forces arrive to conscript him and other enslaved men to work building a railroad track, much to the dismay of the plantation owner. In an emotional scene, Peter is taken from his family and shipped off with others in a prison cart. Arriving at the muddy labor camp, he and other enslaved people are worked until they drop, with bodies thrown into a common grave. All the time, they are under the watchful eye of a renowned slave-catcher named Fassel (Ben Foster) and his two employees, one of whom is a former slave, and the camp is encircled by hanged bodies and heads on pikes as warnings of the risks of escape. Rumors about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation are overheard and, when an opportunity arises, Peter and three others, Gordon (Gilbert Owuor), Tomas (Jabbar Lewis), and John (Michael Luwoye) escape to cross the treacherous bayou in a bid to reach the Union forces fighting at Baton Rouge.
That chase makes up the bulk of the film, as the escapees are pursued by Fassel and his henchmen. One of the escapees is killed and the others decide to split up, making Smith’s character a man alone in a dangerous wilderness of swamp, venous snakes and alligators, pursued by a blood-thirsty fanatic, giving the film a propulsive thriller urgency, as it races towards its moving, inspiring conclusion.
Not a lot is known about the real man in the photo but director Antoine Fuqua and scriptwriter William N. Collage have taken what is known and crafted an inspiring story of determination to reach freedom amid the violence of slavery. It is also a violent story, as Fuqua does not blink in showing the true brutality of slavery, nor the relentlessness and cruelty of slave-catchers. The film is shot in a highly-desaturated color, so much so that at times it appears to be black and white, a visual choice that tamps down the visceral effect of the violence. Many on the characters in the film are based on real people, including Peter and his ruthless pursuer Fassel (in a chilling portrayal by Ben Foster), the plantation owner Captain Lyons, and a Black officer Captain Andre Cailloux (an excellent Mustafa Shakir), a legendary heroic figure of the Civil War.
The story is admirable and the film is inspiring and heroic, but it is not a film without flaws. The desaturated color tends to come and go scene to scene, which proves more distracting than if it was consistent. Smith’s character and his wife speak with Caribbean accents, sometimes in French creole, and other enslaved people have those accents too, and although there is some historic basis (some French plantation owners fled the Haitian Revolution for Louisiana), the accents seem likely to puzzle at least some audience members, raising questions that go unanswered. As said earlier, Smith is nearly-unrecognizable with his face covered in a beard and his stoic character also damps down his unusual on-screen charm. Scenes are often very dark, which is appropriate to the tone, but in the low light of the swamp, it makes it difficult to discern nuances of expression on Smith’s face. The character’s steely demeanor also limits the range of expression, although Smith does a fine job with what the director allows.
It is a great subject for a film but the film tries perhaps a bit too hard to fill in the blanks of the little-known actual person in the famous photo, which raises questions the film doesn’t answer. In many ways, the film feels like a bold Oscar bait reach and while it has admirable aspects, Will Smith feels miscast. Following up his Best Actor Oscar win for “King Richard” and all the uproar around “the slap,” Will Smith seems determined to take another bite at that apple with a dramatic role. But while his role in “King Richard” allowed him to show some of the charm that had made him an audience favorite, this role does not. Smith’s Peter is determined to be free and committed to his faith and the family he loves, but he is a rather steely, remote character, inspiring and determined rather than likable or warm. It doesn’t feel like the right character for Will Smith, although as noted he does as a fine job as possible with it.
This inspiring story has a lot of potential, enough that one can’t help wanting it to succeed, but the inconsistent desaturated color, puzzling details that go unexplained, and Smith’s iron-jawed character work against it. It is not as strong as cinema or as successful narratively as 12 YEARS A SLAVE. Still, it is beautifully shot and deserves credit as a heroic story that is far different from most Civil War tales.
Apple Original Films’ “Emancipation,” directed and executive produced by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “The Equalizer”) and starring and produced by Will Smith (“King Richard,” “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “Ali”), will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 9, 2022.
The announcement was made following an advance screening of “Emancipation” hosted together with the NAACP during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC., where Fuqua, Smith and Mary Elliott, curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, participated in a conversation about the film moderated by politics and culture commentator Angela Rye.
“Emancipation” tells the triumphant story of Peter (Smith), a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith and deep love for his family to evade cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on his quest for freedom. The film is inspired by the 1863 photos of “Whipped Peter,” taken during a Union Army medical examination, that first appeared in Harper’s Weekly. One image, known as “The Scourged Back,” which shows Peter’s bare back mutilated by a whipping delivered by his enslavers, ultimately contributed to growing public opposition to slavery.
The film also stars Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Gilbert Owuor, Mustafa Shakir, Steven Ogg, Grant Harvey, Ronnie Gene Bivens, Jayson Warner Smith, Jabbar Lewis, Michael Luwoye, Aaron Moten and Imani Pullum.
I had the pleasure of watching the film #Emancipation and can’t begin to tell how powerful this is for OUR community and OUR history. It’s a story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph.
Thank you Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith for sharing your gifts!#ThisIsPower
InBULLET TRAIN, Brad Pitt stars as Ladybug, an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug’s latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe – all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives – on the world’s fastest train…and he’s got to figure out how to get off. From the director of Deadpool 2, David Leitch, the end of the line is only the beginning in a wild, non-stop thrill ride through modern-day Japan.
Check out the brand new trailer and look for BULLET TRAIN to open in theaters on August 5.
The cast also includes Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio and Sandra Bullock.
The film is produced by Kelly McCormick, David Leitch and Antoine Fuqua. Dominic Lewis (The Man in the High Castle, Peter Rabbit, Money Monster, Monsters at Work, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween) is the composer on BULLET TRAIN.
“I don’t have a lot of time. Which means you don’t have any!”
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released on 4k Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller The Equalizer (2014), starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, and Haley Bennett.
Now you can own the THE EQUALIZER 4k. We Are Movie Geeks has 2 copies to give away, and one of them is signed by Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua! .All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie directed by Antoine Fuqua? (mine is TRAINING DAY!). It’s so easy!
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES. NO P.O. BOXES. NO DUPLICATE ADDRESSES.
2. WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN FROM ALL QUALIFYING ENTRIES.
McCall (Denzel Washington) has put his mysterious past behind him and is dedicated to living a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer. The Equalizer on 4K Blu-ray includes the feature with High Dynamic Range and exclusive Dolby Atmos audio for maximum impact.
Synopsis: McCall (Denzel Washington) has put his mysterious past behind him and is dedicated to living a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer. The Equalizer is directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by Richard Wenk based on a television series by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. Executive producers include David J. Bloomfield, Ezra Swerdlow and Ben Waisbren. Producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Tony Eldridge, Mace Neufeld, Alex Siskin, Michael Sloan, Steve Tisch, Denzel Washington, Richard Wenk, Lance Johnson, Molly Allen and Kat Samick.
4K BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
ALL-NEW: Five Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes, featuring McCall’s Epilogue teasing The Equalizer 2
Six Featurettes:
“A Villain’s Psychosis”
“Boston: On Location”
“A Modern Hero”
“Joining Forces Again: Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua”
“Playing the Part: The Cast of The Equalizer”
“The Home Mart Advantage: The Action of The Equalizer”
Theatrical Trailers
BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:
Vengeance Mode with Denzel Washington & Antoine Fuqua
Six Featurettes:
“Denzel Washington: A Different Kind of Superhero”
“Equalizer Vision: Antoine Fuqua”
“Inside The Equalizer”
“One Man Army: Training and Fighting”
“Home Mart: Taking Care of Business One Bolt at a Time”
THE EQUALIZER 2 is a case where ‘more of the same’ would have been just fine but somehow they screwed this up. The powerful director/actor team of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington gave us THE EQUALIZER in 2014, a pulpy urban revenge thriller that had all the trappings of a tired Hollywood genre effort: a loner with a mysterious past, a young hooker with a heart of gold that provided the catalyst for his return to action, and an army of sneering Russian gangsters for him to dispatch in all variety of gruesome manner. But it worked surprisingly well, with a weird, electrifying life of its own thanks to Washington’s brooding presence and Fuqua’s dazzling direction. It also helped that they kept the scope small, focusing on its hero’s simple existence in Boston. The paint-by-numbers sequel, which opens things up with some globe-hopping tangents in Istanbul and Belgium, is far inferior with less violence and no emotional affect.
Washington is back in THE EQUALIZER 2 as retired CIA operative Robert McCall who, when not rescuing kidnapped children in Turkey, makes a living driving for Lyft (no mention is made of why he lost his job at Home Depot – probably something to do with the mangled corpses he left there). When his former CIA boss Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is murdered in Brussels, McCall unleashes his particularly lethal set of skills on those responsible. I barely remember Ms Leo from part one, so her demise meant little to me, but the film’s central plot revolves around her murder and with so many red herrings and double-crosses, it’s hard to keep allegiances straight. The highlight of part one was a remarkable skull-smashing, corkscrew-through-the-jaw sequence in which McCall dispensed with five Russkies while checking the seconds on his watch. Part two attempts to recreate this in a scene where McCall similarly dispatches a hotel room full of finance-industry white boys after they sexually assaulted a young woman and dumped her in his Lyft. That stopwatch is back as is the way McCall visually assesses his surroundings, but the scene has far less impact, in part because all these bros are still alive at the end of it. But it’s still the best scene in the sequel, which goes downhill from there. See, though still bad-ass, this is the (relatively) kinder, gentler Robert McCall, a killing machine who spends a great deal of time passing out books and caring for his neighbors. These include an Indian woman whose garden is vandalized, a teenager (Ashton Sanders) he’s determined to save from the Thug Life and an old Jewish man (Orson Bean) still grieving for a sister from who he was separated during the Holocaust. Where the original’s crazy showdown finale took place in a big-box hardware store where McCall had access to nail guns, blow torches and barbed-wire nooses, the sequel climaxes with a lackluster, drawn-out gun battle between McCall and a quartet of bland villains in a rainstorm. On the plus side, Washington is as charismatic as ever and throws out a few memorable quips (“don’t forget my 5-star rating” he reminds someone he’s just crippled). Boston locations are again used to strong effect but the action lags and this sequel is one of this summer’s bigger disappointments.
Check out the first trailer for director Antoine Fuqua’s THE EQUALIZER 2, starring Oscar winner Denzel Washington.
Washington, who was nominated for Best Actor in 2017 and 2018 for FENCES and ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ., returns to one of his signature roles in the first sequel of his career. Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed – but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
The film also stars Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo.
Antoine Fuqua is best known for his 2001 Academy Award-winning film TRAINING DAY, and recently THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and SOUTHPAW. Fuqua also helmed 2004’s KING ARTHUR and the excellent BROOKLYN’S FINEST, one of 2009’s best films of the year.
There’s the saying that they don’t make them like they used to. Often this is referred to classic styles of storytelling. The western is one of the oldest film genres, practically synonymous with names like John Ford, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood. Over the past decade there have been filmmakers that have saddled the genre and kicked a modern twist into it. Films like SLOW WEST, THE THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, and MEEK’S CUTOFF have reflected more of the struggles – both internal and external – of life on the American frontier.
However, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016) falls more in line with traditional westerns than the modern; it harkens back to the “us vs. them” dynamic. There’s a classic approach to this remake of the 1960 film that shows Antoine Fuqua understands that sometimes you don’t need to mess around too much with a good thing. He has delivered the same guns-a-blazing underdog story that fans of the original will recognize. And yet, he also knows exactly how to update the story so that it feels fresh and relevant for modern audiences.
Sam Chisum (Denzel Washington) is a bounty hunter hired by Emma (Haley Bennett) to rid her town of the money-hungry land tycoon, Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). Her husband is shot dead during Bogue’s takeover and so she gathers her savings to pay for Chisum to serve a healthy dose of “righteousness.” Chisum then goes about and hires six other men for the job based on his previous encounters and some that he meets on the way (including the incomparable Vincent D’Onofrio, the rugged Chris Pratt, and the always scene-stealing Ethan Hawke).
Given that this is the third incarnation of the story following Akira Kurosawa’s THE SEVEN SAMURAI and the original THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, those that are familiar with the story will find plenty to tip their hats to and maybe a little more depending on their knowledge of the genre. Screenwriters Nic Pazzalotto and Richard Wenk pay respect to the 1954 Japanese film by having one of the seven wield a bow and arrow as his weapon of choice, just as a character did in that classic film. Composers James Horner and Simon Franglen get in on the fun by playing around with the classic theme by Elmer Bernstein throughout the film, acting almost as a tease of what’s to come in the closing credits. However, it’s Mauro Fiore who has the most fun with camera shots that recall everything from the low angle shot of figures standing like chess pieces ready to attack in ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST to the silhouette of John Wayne in the doorway of THE SEARCHERS.
Donning a Melvin Van Peebles mustache (SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG), Denzel Washington plays the stoic leader with a level of restraint that isn’t always showcased by the actor. Peter Sarsgaard is appropriately ruthless even if he plays it like a sweaty drug addict on a bender. And then there is Chris Pratt playing to his strengths as the comedic relief with confident bravado. He’s not stretching his limits, but then again, this isn’t the type of film that’s asking much more from him than to aim and fire one-liner after one-liner. Who is the knock-out champion is Haley Bennett as the woman who provokes the men to fight. Notice as I did not say she is the reason that they fight because the film doesn’t position her as a prize to be won. She, in fact, becomes much more of a strong helping hand in the fight to the extent that the film could very well be renamed.
Amidst all the rampant gunfire in the long final battle, things get a little hazy. The sense of space and who’s shooting at who (you don’t have a red team fighting a blue team) gets a little lost in the dust. However, there are moments of calm before the storm erupts again so that audiences can catch their breath and figure out where all the good guys now stand. Even with a little bit of confusion, Fuqua still stages a dazzling action spectacle that doesn’t end till the remaining guns twirl back into their holsters.
It’s refreshing not to see a bunch of middle-aged white guys playing hero on screen. Producers have recently gone to great lengths to inject some well-needed diversity in terms of sex and race into the great white west. Fuqua intentionally fills out his cast with a wide variety of colors and ethnicity, reflecting an early American frontier that didn’t just have one identity. This MAGNIFICENT SEVEN may not have the prestige as the original, but it might be a more accurate portrait of what the west truly looked like. They may not make them like they used to, but sometimes that’s not entirely a bad thing.
Overall rating: 4 out of 5
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN opens in theaters September 23
