It’s been six years since Leaving Neverland left an indelible impression on Michael Jackson’s legacy. The King of Pop was cleared of kid abuse fees throughout his lifetime, however one thing in regards to the Emmy-winning testimony of Wade Robson and James Safechuck caught within the collective consciousness, regardless of constant denials from Jackson’s household and people who handle his enterprise empire.
Leaving Neverland 2 picks up the story the place the primary movie left off in 2019, chronicling Robson and Safechuck’s authorized battle with the Jackson property as they search to carry the singer’s enablers accountable for the abuse they declare to have suffered. “I would like my day in court docket,” Robson says intensely. On this sense, the Leaving Neverland sequel seems like a prelude to the primary occasion: a trial subsequent yr during which their allegations will likely be examined in entrance of a jury. Director Dan Reed calls it a “stepping stone” documentary. “The intention is to comply with the tales till the tip,” he tells Deadline.
Wade Robson
Leaving Neverland 2 sticks with the theme of Robson and Safechuck wrestling with their previous, made all of the extra intimate by Reed filming of their houses. There are moments of resonance as Safechuck talks vulnerably about what he would have instructed his youthful self, minimize carefully alongside photographs of him cradling his personal little one. The documentary additionally captures the passing of time of their protracted efforts to safe a trial, from mask-wearing in court docket through the pandemic, to little one sexual abuse legal professional Vince W. Finaldi declaring his plans to retire.
For Reed, the previous six years strengthened his perception in Robson and Safechuck’s model of occasions. The BAFTA-winning director by no means doubted the duo have been victims of Jackson, however he says the grind of the authorized battle underlines the authenticity of their story. The cost in opposition to Robson and Safechuck has at all times been that they wish to make a buck out of their trauma. Reed thinks the prolonged authorized motion exhibits the other is true.
“I wished to point out how tough and unrewarding and exhausting it’s to attempt to get justice within the court docket system,” he explains. “To individuals who say, ‘They’re simply after cash,’ I say: 5 extra victims got here out after Leaving Neverland and bought paid $16-17M for his or her life rights. If James and Wade had wished to make a fast buck, why didn’t they only go to the property?”
Whereas Reed has journeyed with Robson and Safechuck by means of their authorized travails, HBO is not alongside for the trip after co-producing the unique documentary. HBO knowledgeable Reed of its choice late final yr, which he described as “disappointing” as a result of the community was a “implausible accomplice” on Leaving Neverland.
HBO has declined to touch upon the matter. Its choice is regarded as associated to Warner Bros. Discovery’s personal authorized battle with the Jackson property, which resulted in an opaque arbitration course of after Leaving Neverland breached a non-disparagement clause in a 1992 contract for HBO’s Harmful Tour live performance particular. “I’ve not been made aware about the small print of that and I’m unsure what occurred,” Reed says.
James Safechuck
Reed doesn’t rule out re-teaming with HBO on a future Leaving Neverland movie and factors out that the community has a 10-year license for the unique documentary. “We look ahead to someday renewing our collaboration on this theme,” he says cryptically. Leaving Neverland 2 will as an alternative premiere in North America on Actual Tales, the Little Dot Studios premium documentary channel on YouTube, and Reed is “genuinely excited” about it reaching as broad an viewers as doable. The documentary will first premiere on Channel 4 within the UK on March 18.
One of many causes Reed turned to YouTube is as a result of he believes that main streamers (he namechecks Netflix and Apple) have gotten more and more risk-averse of their documentary storytelling. As an alternative, Reed says streamers have sought sanctuary in true-crime docs and scripted collection that embrace themes of intercourse and violence. “It feels as if perhaps the world of streaming is extra cautious [about] difficult topics, political topics, topics that put folks’s tooth on edge and make them upset,” he continues. “So as to not strike the mistaken observe with such an unlimited subscribership, you’ll be able to’t actually afford to do something that isn’t completely secure.”
He’s not the one filmmaker to level out this chilling impact. Ezra Edelman, the director of the Prince documentary collection canceled by Netflix, says audiences are being served up “slop” within the quest for sanitized entry to high-profile topics.
Reed has been withering about Lionsgate‘s Antoine Fuqua biopic about Jackson, which he has accused of whitewashing the singer’s alleged sins. Reed, who has learn a model of the script, says it begins with blue lights and the arrest of Jackson at Neverland, and ends by discrediting Jordan Chandler’s little one abuse accusations in opposition to the pop star. The story will change, nevertheless, after the property found post-shoot that it had an settlement with Chandler to not dramatize his story. “What an enormous f*** up,” Reed exclaims, questioning how the film will hit its October launch date amid re-shoots.
Dan Reed
All of it leaves open the suggestion that Leaving Neverland could have been tougher to provide within the present local weather. Reed agrees, including that there would probably have been “blowback” from the “manosphere” as society “swings in direction of” conspiracy and disinformation. “For long-form storytelling that tries to elucidate complicated areas of hazard in our society, the highway goes to get rougher,” he says. The circumstances make him grateful for public service broadcasters like Channel 4, which nonetheless have the “grit and the remit” to sort out the taboo.
On the day of our interview, Reed obtained his first abusive electronic mail about Leaving Neverland 2 and he suspects that worse is but to come back from Jackson superfans when the movie premieres. The trolls ignore Reed’s efforts to supply the property a platform to rebut Robson and Safechuck’s allegations. He exhibits his workings within the sequel, publishing an electronic mail he despatched Jonathan Steinsapir, an legal professional for the Jackson property, “begging” him to look within the documentary. The movie then exhibits Steinsapir mocking Reed because the lawyer enters court docket. “Stil begging?” he asks the director.
For Reed, these moments are important for establishing the authenticity of his work — and in flip lending credibility to the tales of his topics. “That is the highway we took to get to the place the place I can confidently say, ‘I attempted to make this movie displaying each side,’” he explains. “Being clear and establishing the credibility of our strategies turns into completely important if we’re going to outlive as a spot that folks look to for reality.”
