The first biopic to pass $1 billion worldwide will now compete in the drama categories, with Jaafar Jackson in the lead actor race.
The Golden Globes have rejected Lionsgate's bid for Michael to compete as a comedy or musical, so the Michael Jackson biopic will go into the drama categories. Gold Derby first reported the decision, and Variety and TheWrap have both confirmed it.
Jaafar Jackson, Michael Jackson's nephew, plays the King of Pop. In the drama race the film will compete for one of six slots, against The Odyssey, La Bola Negra and others. TheWrap names Matt Damon and Andrew Scott among the likely nominees Jackson faces in the lead actor category.
The Globes' rules say: "A musical can be a comedy or a drama in which songs are used in addition to spoken dialogue to further the plot." The committee felt the musical performances in Michael did not sufficiently drive the narrative, so the film did not meet that test.
Under Globes procedure, a film submitted in a category it would not typically be accepted in needs a letter from its director. Antoine Fuqua's letter was included with the submission, and the awards committee denied the request anyway. Variety writes that the committee evidently saw the song sequences as re-creations of Michael Jackson's performances rather than as storytelling devices, even though Jaafar Jackson performs many of his uncle's biggest hits in the film.
Musical biopics have long been hard to classify at the Globes. Ray and Walk the Line both competed in, and won, the comedy or musical categories in the mid-2000s, which prompted a rule change. Since then, Bohemian Rhapsody, Bryan Singer's Freddie Mercury biopic, competed as a drama and won best motion picture drama in 2018. Elvis, Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic, was nominated in that category in 2022. One notable exception is the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, the story of a folk singer struggling for success in 1961, which was allowed to compete as a musical or comedy and was nominated in 2013.
Lionsgate can still appeal before the Oct. 31 submission deadline. Sources say an appeal is unlikely, and Lionsgate declined to comment.
The film opened on April 24 and became the first biopic to pass $1 billion worldwide, grossing $1.029 billion. That is $117 million more than Bohemian Rhapsody, the previous record-holder among music biopics. It is Lionsgate's biggest release ever. Nearly two-thirds of its box office came from outside the U.S. and Canada, and it also made a star of Jaafar Jackson, who had never acted professionally before.
Supporting acting categories do not split by genre, so the decision does not affect Colman Domingo and Nia Long, who play the pop star's parents. Nominations for the 84th Golden Globes will be announced Monday, Dec. 7, ahead of the ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 10, hosted by Nikki Glaser.
No comments yet