Director open to Jackson sequel
‘Wider drama’ of the allegations against singer would be explored in documentary
LOS ANGELES Ahead of a TV première this spring, Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed says he is open to creating a follow-up to his controversial four-hour documentary revolving around sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson. If, that is, he would be able make contact with the King of Pop’s earlier high-profile accusers, Jordan Chandler and Gavin Arvizo. (The documentary will air in Canada on HBO Canada and Crave, at a date to be announced.)
“If Jordan Chandler were to come forth, and if I could sit down with him speak to him the way I did to Wade (Robson) and James (Safechuck), that would I think, be the core of a very interesting film about that story, and the same goes for (Arvizo),” Reed said.
Leaving Neverland debuted at Sundance and largely centres on the story and family lives of Robson and Safechuck, two men who say Jackson befriended and abused them as children. The first two hours of the film in particular rarely stray from Robson and Safechuck’s telling of their respective stories, a deliberate choice.
“This is not a movie about Michael Jackson,” Reed said. “This is not a movie about Michael Jackson abusing little boys. It’s a movie about two families and how two families came to terms with what their sons revealed to them many years after Jackson died.”
Should Reed ever pursue a follow-up project around Chandler and Arvizo, however, it “would be a different type of film.” Chandler’s allegations went public in the early 1990s and Arvizo’s in the early 2000s, while the singer was still alive.
“I would of course use the interviews I’ve already shot with investigators from those investigations — the D.A.s and all the people that were part of that wider drama,” he said. “That would have been a very different type of film. … I’d tell the story from Jordan and Gavin’s point of view, partly, but also through the eyes of all the other participants.”
At Sundance, the film induced visceral reactions from both viewers and Michael Jackson fans. The audience was “deeply, deeply affected,” said Reed, who said “you could hear people sobbing in the audience.”
Jackson’s estate has been vocal in criticizing the film, previously calling it “tabloid character assassination.”
But Reed doesn’t appear to have much desire to battle Jackson’s estate. And even if the documentary spurs a campaign to stop listening to Jackson’s music, in the same vein as the current “Mute R. Kelly” campaign, he “would not endorse that.”
“The film’s not about Michael Jackson, and my intention is certainly not to topple Jackson from his iconic status, or to undermine his legacy,” said Reed. “I just think it needs to be re-contextualized. We need to somehow be able to accommodate the fact that he’s a pedophile with the man’s talent as an entertainer.”