Jaws dropped around the world when Michael Jackson died just 18 days before he was due on stage for the first performance of his This Is It residency, Daily Mail reports.
At the height of his career the King of Pop had 50 sold-out shows scheduled at London’s O2 Arena before he passed away in June 2009 aged 50.
Now, the star’s family say they want his upcoming biopic Michael Jackson to premiere at one of the capital’s most famous music venues, with insiders revealing they hope for Michael’s dream to ‘be fulfilled’ with the choice of destination.
Sources told The Sun: ‘It was Michael’s dream to do that residency at the O2 and now his family are hoping that will partly be fulfilled with the film premiering at the venue.’
Universal Studios are in talks with bosses at the O2 Arena’s Cineworld cinema to hold a VIP premiere with a slew of stars and loved-ones of the hitmaker.
Michael’s beloved fans transformed the O2 into a memorial, with devotees gathered for a vigil on July 13, 2009 – the day the shows were due to kick off.
The movie, which stars his nephew Jafaar Jackson as the Thriller singer, is set to premiere in April 2026, but a venue for the launch has yet to be confirmed.
Meanwhile Paris Jackson, the pop star’s daughter, 27, has publicly distanced herself from the $155M-budget two-part film over ‘dishonesty’.
Paris hit back after Colman Domingo, who portrays her grandfather Joe Jackson, suggested to People that she was ‘very much in support of our film’.
The Hollywood star revealed that he ‘chatted briefly’ with Paris about the project at an amfAR fundraising event in Paris. He said: ‘I’m excited to be here at amfAR tonight with Paris. It feels like that’s a nice way for us to be together.
‘The thing that has inspired me the most is this very profound and prominent family called the Jacksons.’
But the actress fumed and took to Instagram to refute his claims: ‘Don’t be telling people I was “helpful” on the set of a movie I had 0 percent involvement in lol.
‘That is so weird. I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys, not my circus. God bless and Godspeed.’
She added: ‘We would not have any of this music that we used to have great memories about, the moments, the big moments, that we all share, because of the Jackson family.
And I’m not just saying just Michael – the entire Jackson family.’
Paris completely washed her hands of the ambitious project after the initial feedback she gave producers on the first draft of the script was ignored.
She said last month in an Instagram video to her 7.9 million followers: ‘The thing about these biopics is it’s Hollywood. It’s fantasy land — it’s not real, but it’s sold to you as real, and a lot of sugar-coated, like, the narrative is being controlled.
‘There’s a lot of inaccuracy and there’s a lot of just full-blown lies. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really fly with me. I don’t really like dishonesty.
‘I spoke up. I wasn’t heard. I f***** off. That’s it. Y’all are going to like the f****** movie so just go watch it, go enjoy it, do whatever – leave me out of it.’
She added: ‘The film panders to a very specific section of my dad’s fandom that still lives in a fantasy, and they’re gonna be happy with it.’
Michael Jackson which promises an ‘unbiased’ telling of his 1993 child sexual abuse accusations – also features Miles Teller, Kat Graham, Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Larenz Tate, and Derek Luke.
Ahead of the premiere, the film’s producer Graham King said the film would be ‘an inside look at the most prolific artist who ever lived’ as ‘there are elements of drama, intrigue and emotional states’.