“Leaves Neverland“Director And reed planning to do a third part to document the upcoming trial against Michael Jackson Prosecutor Wade Robson and James Safechuck against the late pop star’s company.
Reed is already following up its bombshell 2019 -documenteries – where Robson and Safechuck claimed that Jackson abused them sexually as a child – with a sequel, “Leave Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson,” Premiere March 18 on Channel 4 in the UK and on Youtube in the United States.
The 50-minute “Surviving Michael Jackson” focuses mainly on Robson and Safechuck’s struggle to have his day in court after suing Jackson’s company, which is governed by his goods, for neglecting to protect them from the alleged abuse. Jackson consistently denied the charges before his death in 2009, and his goods have continued to do so. After going back and forth in the judicial system for a decade, in 2023, a California appealed court submitted that Robson and Safechuck’s combined cases must go to trial, which is currently canceled for next year.
If everything goes in plan, Reed says Amount That he will be in the courtroom with his camera and a crew. “It has taken a terrible long time just to get to a trial date that looks like it could actually happen,” says Reed, even though he thinks Jackson’s goods will “find a way to try pages with the whole thing and make sure it never goes to court.”
“But who knows,” he continues. “Maybe justice will prevail and it will be a trial. And if there is a trial, I want to be there. “
But even if Robson and Safechuck get their day in court, it is possible that cameras will not be allowed in the room. “That’s a big question, will the judge allow filming?” Says Reed. “And that is really the judge’s judgment.”
For “Leaving Neverland 2”, Reed was allowed to film in Santa Monica Courthouse under several hearings. “I feel really happy that we could because it is such a dry topic,” he adds. In fact, the second part focuses mainly on the legal ups and downs that led to Robson and Safechuck being granted a trial – but Reed felt it was important to have a chapter in the story “Leaving Neverland” which fills in the gaps.
“It’s a bridge film between what was a pretty high profile and what I hope will be a very dramatic ending,” he says. “We could have held it to include all this material and the trial. But I think the trial will be so dramatic, and you will not have time for all things in between. ”
After “Leaving Neverland” premiered in 2019, it received critical praise and won an Emmy for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special, but Drew Vitriol from both Jackson’s Estate and his fans. Jackson had been the subject of claims for sexual abuse earlier, even at trial in 2005 for allegations of molestation of children and drunk a minor, of whom he was acquitted. Since Jackson’s death in 2009, his family and property have continued to assert his innocence. Representatives of Jackson’s goods did not immediately respond to AmountRequest for comment on this article.
Reed hopes to continue to tell Robson and Safechuck’s story with “Survivor Michael Jackson” – and its possible third part – will help viewers “realize that these are real people, with a real story, with real families who do this.”
“They are not just a couple of people who show up because they saw a pot of gold,” he says. “These are people who have really spent a decade, at least of their lives to get justice.”
