A follow-up to HBO‘s 2019 documentary on Michael Jackson, Leaving Neverland, has been announced and will be released soon.
In 2019, HBO produced a two-part documentary surrounding the allegations of Michael Jackson sexually assaulting two minors. Directed by Dan Reed, Leaving Neverland focused on testimonies by Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who both claim that Michael Jackson sexually abused them when they were children.
Now, a follow-up to Leaving Neverland – titled Surviving Michael Jackson – has been confirmed for release on March 18 via the UK’s Channel 4, per Variety. HBO will not be involved in Surviving Michael Jackson following Jackson’s estate in 2019 suing the network over claims the documentary violated a 27-year-old non-disparagement clause from a 1992 concert film for the pop icon’s Dangerous World Tour.
According to a synopsis of Leaving Neverland II: Surviving Michael Jackson from official distributor Sphere Abacus details that the follow-up will explore the “difficult journey and its many twists, turns and setbacks” for Robson and Safechuck, including the public backlash they’ve received over the years.
Additionally, Sphere Abacus has confirmed that a third and final entry in the documentary series will cover the upcoming 2026 trial of Robson and Safechuck versus Michael Jackson’s estate. The third entry has yet to receive a release date, pending the trial’s duration.
Jackson faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse throughout his career and faced criminal charges that led to a highly publicised trial in 2005. He denied all allegations and was found not guilty on all counts.
In 1993, Evan Chandler, a dentist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, accused Jackson of sexually abusing his 13-year-old son Jordan. The case was concluded when the two parties reached a financial settlement in 1994.
In 2024, Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed slammed the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic as “startlingly disingenuous”, claiming it discredits Robson and Safechuck’s experiences with the singer.
Last month, it was reported that the biopic – which will see Michael portrayed by his own nephew, Jaafar Jackson – has been forced to reshoot its entire third act, which is said to depict sexual abuse allegations that the singer’s estate has banned from being dramatised. The film was scheduled for release in October this year, though it is now unclear if the reshoots will delay the film’s launch.
For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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