Michael Jackson biopics are all over the news these days, and unfortunately not in a positive way. There was a huge amount of controversy around a grotesque portrayal of the King of Pop by white actor Joseph Fiennes in the Sky Arts anthology series, Urban Myths, that was pulled due to the Jackson family’s outrage. Paris Jackson, Michael’s daughter, made her opinion known on Twitter, prompting Sky Arts to realize that their approach to telling Jackson’s story was truly regrettable.
However, in further surprising news, it appears that Lifetime may be handling Jackson’s story better than Sky Arts. According to Vanity Fair, British Michael Jackson impersonator Navi will be taking over the role for the tv movie Michael Jackson: Searching For Neverland. The project is based on Remember the Time: Protecting Michael Jackson in His Final Days, and will air sometime in 2017. Lifetime hasn’t always been the most subtle with their unauthorized biopics (looking at you Britney Spears and Saved By The Bell), but at least Navi makes a living looking like the second coming of MJ. While it probably won’t be the best way to tell Jackson’s complicated story, at least Joseph Fiennes’ horror make up isn’t involved.
(Via Vanity Fair)
