Entertainment
The Michael Jackson Biopic 'Michael' — A $2 Billion Estate War and Who Gets to Control a Dead Star's Narrative
The Michael Jackson biopic 'Michael' is produced by estate executors John Branca and John McClain, who oversee a fortune now valued at roughly $2 billion and have generated over $3.5 billion in posthumous revenue. Paris Jackson has called the film 'full-blown lies,' while Janet Jackson reportedly labeled it 'horrible.' This piece digs into whether a biopic bankrolled by estate administrators can ever qualify as 'truth,' examining the family civil war over narrative control, the structural contradictions of Hollywood's estate-approved biopic model, and what happens when a dead icon's story becomes the most valuable asset in a multi-billion-dollar portfolio.