Michael just received a runtime update, and it seems it won't be as long as many fans are hoping for. The King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, is the latest musical sensation to receive their own biopic, following the success of Elvis, Rocketman, and Bohemian Rhapsody. The Lionsgate-distributed flick will arrive on April 24, with a key connection to the "Thriller" artist's real-life family: Michael will be played by the singer's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in his acting debut.
According to a post on X from scooper Cryptic HD Quality, Michael is still being finalized ahead of its April release date but is expected to be "just a few minutes over the two-hour mark," landing below previous estimates. The scooper elaborated with a slightly more specific estimate, saying they have heard Michael's runtime will be somewhere between 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Sites such as Letterboxd list Michael with runtimes as high as 2 hours, 16 minutes (via MJ Friends). This is also shorter than other major musician biopics, such as Bohemian Rhapsody, which ran for 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Still, fans shouldn't worry about the biopic doing Michael Jackson's life justice, as the 2026 release is reportedly just the first half of a two-movie tale.
Michael ranked highly on The Direct's 2026 box office winners predictions, as most are expecting it to be among this year's biggest hits, capitalizing on Jackson's unprecedented stardom and popularity as the King of Pop.
Michael's Two-Part Biopic Plan & Legal Issues Explained
Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed (via Variety) during the studio's Q4 2025 earnings call that the team behind Michael had "3.5 hours of amazing footage." However, reports began circulating last April that Lionsgate was mulling splitting Michael into two parts to better chronicle his life's story without delivering it in one eye-wateringly long movie that might hurt box-office draw.
The studio never directly confirmed whether it is moving forward with Michael's second film and may be waiting for box-office results to decide. That said, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) revealed that Michael would have 22 days of reshoots in June 2025, focused on shooting new scenes for the first part to "expand what was half a film into feature length."
The report went as far as to spoil the first part of Michael's ending, stating it will pause with "Jackson leaving the Jackson 5 after the release of his first solo album, Off the Wall." That leaves plenty of the King of Pop's 50-year life to be explored in the second half, as he abandoned the family band in 1984, when he was just 25, with most of his prime years coming after that.
Lionsgate still has a lot of work to do on the potential sequel flick, with THR stating last May that Michael 2 didn't yet have a script. Furthermore, the production has a major legal issue to overcome, as the previously shot third act covered Jackson's 1993 child sexual abuse accuser, Jordan Chandler, despite a settlement agreement that prohibited their allegations from featuring in any dramatization.
