Just four short years ago, Spike Lee quietly released the Michael Jackson documentary Bad 25, a chronicle of the King of Pop’s seminal album Bad on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. It screened at the Venice Film Festival, did one-day engagements at theaters in New York and Los Angeles, ran for American audiences on ABC, and then pretty much disappeared. It’s a keenly attentive documentary, aware of Jackson’s position in the cultural mainstream in a musical and racial capacity — not Lee’s first dalliance with the work of the man he has affectionately called “Mike,” and it wouldn’t be the last. The video accompanying Jackson’s single “They Don’t Care About Us” was a Spike Lee joint, as was the posthumous video for “This Is It.” And a new announcement from Showtime has now revealed that Lee will continue his interest in the pop star’s life with another documentary.
Deadline reports that on February 5, Showtime will run a presentation of Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown To Off The Wall. The title is unwieldy, but pretty self-explanatory: The doc will focus on Jackson’s enshrined studio record Off The Wall, and track the artist’s path to that monumental success. Those fortunate enough to be in attendance at the Sundance Film Festival will have the opportunity to get an eyeful of this Journey before the common rabble at an advance screening on January 24, but the rest of us will have to wait a couple weeks. Except for the poor wretches without Showtime, who are not only missing out on the transcendent highs of Ray Donovan (just to be clear, that’s a joke, Ray Donovan‘s just okay), but will also have to befriend someone who does have Showtime if they want to see Lee’s latest ode to the King of Pop.
