It’s another year and you know what that means, another music biopic. This weekend saw the release of Michael, the latest of the popular trend of famous musician biographies hitting the big screen, this time focused on the early life and 80s peak of pop star Michael Jackson. The first thought for many Oscar pundits’ brains was, is Michael an awards contender? Does it matter if critics dislike the film if it’s so popular with the general public? And what is the history for music biopics at the Academy Awards?
We answer all these questions and more examining the awards prospects for Antoine Fuqua’s film starring Jaafar Jackson (Michael Jackson’s nephew) and Juliano Valdi portraying the King of Pop. The film has been welcomed with low critics scores including 38% on Rotten Tomatoes and 39% on Metacritic, but a $97 million domestic opening weekend and an A- Cinema Score have made it a hit with general audiences.
In addition to our Oscars analysis, we think through which musician biopics we’d still like to see in the future.
On this episode:
Paul Rai
Danny Jarabek
Jacob Diedenhofer
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Credits:
- Theme music: Eugene Rocco Utley & Karl Vincent
- Artwork: Danny Jarabek
- Editor: Danny Jarabek
- Assistant Producer: Evan Miller
- Feature Image Credit to Lionsgate