Bohemian Rhapsody came under fire for various reasons – the behind-the-scenes controversy with Bryan Singer, its less-than-subtle treatment of Freddie Mercury's story – but it ended up earning more than $900 million worldwide and bagged star Rami Malek an Oscar. Producer Graham King's GK Films is now hoping to replicate the success with a Michael Jackson biopic.
Skyfall contributor and Penny Dreadful creator John Logan is aboard to work on the script, which he and King will develop before heading out to studios. While Jackson's life is ideally suited to the drama of a biopic, the team will have to tread carefully when dealing with a variety of issues, including his traumatic road to child stardom, his eccentricities as an adult and the latter-life accusations of child sexual abuse, which has been the subject of a controversial HBO documentary.
Jackson died in 2009 at the age of 50 and the film is aiming to chart his life story. It's just the latest biopic in the works from GK Films, which also has a Bee Gees film bubbling away in the early stages.