Report: Michael Jackson biopic in limbo after third act said to be “legally unusable”

thefader.com:

The upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael has reportedly run into serious trouble, with the film's entire third act "deemed legally unusable" over its depiction of the father of one of Jackson's child sexual abuse accusers, as Screen Rant points out via Puck.

According to Puck journalist Matt Belloni, the film centers on the 1993 allegations of child sex abuse Jackson faced. That year, Jackson was accused of assaulting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler by the boy's father, Evan.

Jackson was criminally investigated and the Chandlers sued him; a financial settlement was reached in January of 1994. Read Next: Report: Michael Jackson’s estate seeking $800-900 million for portion of singer’s catalog Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua and created in close collaboration with the late singer's estate, “depicts Jackson as the naïve victim of the money-grubbing Chandlers,” Belloni writes.

In the third act, Jackson's legal team led by John Branca and Johnnie Cochran (played by Miles Teller and Derek Luke, respectively) debate settling the case, and play a recording where Evan Chandler says he will use his son's claims to destroy Jackson's career.