Filmmaker J.J. Abrams is taking a break from sci-fi flicks (“Star Wars” and “Star Trek”) to work on a new TV show about the late “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson.
The show will be based on a book titled, “Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson’s Last Days”.
The book follows the pop star’s final months, examining Michael Jackson‘s highs and lows, including his constant hunt for privacy in a life that was more public than almost any other. It will also highlight the pressures he endured as someone whose fame made him socially fragile and almost unable to live.
The co-authors of “Before You Judge Me” interviewed people close to Michael Jackson such as Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and Janet Jackson, and called on trial transcripts and other documents, including the case against Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray.
J.J. Abrams will be teaming up with “Before You Judge Me” author Tavis Smiley and Warner Bros. Television to adapt the book as a TV event series. A network has not yet been set up but the studio is expected to shop it to broadcast, cable, premium cable, and streaming services.
This is not the first time that J.J. Abrams and Tavis Smiley will be executive producing a show together. In April 2015, they teamed with WBTV to develop another event series based on the author’s best-seller, “Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year”.
Michael Jackson was preparing for his comeback concert series, “This Is It”, when he died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication after suffering from cardiac arrest. 25th June 2016 will mark the 7th death anniversary of the “King of Pop”.
Source: THR.
