Michael Jackson's Final Days Are Coming to TV Thanks to J.J. Abrams

Find out the plan to turn the King of Pop's last months on earth into a TV series

By Billy Nilles Jun 20, 2016 8:11 PMTags
Michael JacksonJustin Sullivan/Pool/Wireimage

The man in the mirror is making his way to your television set.

A new series focused on the final days of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is under development at Warner Bros. TV, thanks to uber-producer J.J. Abrams and author Tavis Smiley. The studio announced on Monday that Abrams' Bad Robot Productions was developing an event series based on Smiley's upcoming book Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson's Last Days.

Due in stores Tuesday, June 21, Before You Judge Me is described as "a taut novelistic rendering of the final months in the life of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture, Michael Jackson. The book examines the soaring highs and deep lows faced by the late pop star — his constant hunt for privacy in a life that was more public than almost any other, and the pressures he endured as someone whose fame made him socially fragile and almost unable to live."

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The series, which counts Smiley and Abrams as executive producers, alongside Ben Stephenson and David Brewington, has yet to be acquired by a network.

This isn't the first team Smiley and Bad Robot have teamed up with WBTV. An event series based on Smiley's 2014 book Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Final Year was previously announced, but has yet to be made.

Jackson's final days, of course, are rife with the sort of sensational drama that, frankly, we're surprised hasn't made its way to TV yet. The music legend died in 2009 just weeks before embarking on a comeback concert series. The rehearsal footage was later re-purposed into the concert film Michael Jackson's This Is It. Jackson's drug-induced death was later ruled a homicide, with the physician who administered the fatal dose, Dr. Conrad Murray, being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

The questions now stands: Who has what it takes to bring Jackson to life? Even in his fragile state before his death, he still leaves some mighty big shoes to fill. Sound off in the comments below with your suggestions.

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