New Behind-the-Scenes Photos from Michael Jackson Biopic Released by Lionsgate

The King of Pop still reigns! Michael Jackson has been ruling the box office — and returning to a litany of Billboard charts — this year with his smash musical biopic, Michael .

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Starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson in the titular role, the film explores the late King of Pop’s life and career from his Jackson 5 days, all the way through his solo breakthrough with Off the Wall  and subsequent world domination with  Thriller , before wrapping in 1988 as MJ embarks on his first solo outing, the Bad World Tour. Directed by Antoine Fuqua with a script penned by John Logan, the film’s sprawling cast also includes two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo (as Joe Jackson), Emmy nominee Miles Teller (as entertainment lawyer John Branca), Emmy winner Mike Myers (as music industry exec Walter Yetnikoff), Actor Award nominee Laura Harrier (as Suzanne de Passe) and three-time NAACP Image Award winner Nia Long (as Katherine Jackson).

The week of June 7, Michael — which is still in theaters at press time — became Lionsgate’s highest grossing movie of all time with $898 million at the global box office ahead of its release in Japan on June 12. To celebrate the film’s incredible success, Billboard is exclusively sharing a few behind-the-scenes photos from the box-office behemoth. From Fuqua coaching Jackson on how to hold his headphones for a recording booth scene to Juliano Valdi (young Michael) sweetly posing with Larenz Tate (Berry Gordy), these images showcase the camaraderie the cast cultivated during their work on this film.

Michael’s success isn’t limited to the box office. Thanks to the film introducing MJ to a whole new generation — and reminding older listeners just how seminal his music is — Jackson is storming the  Billboard  charts. He hit No. 1 on the Artist 100 for the very first time on May 23, and he currently charts four songs on the June 13-dated Billboard Hot 100 : “Billie Jean” (No. 19), “Chicago” (No. 26), “Human Nature” (No. 31) and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (No. 45). Notably, “Chicago,” a track from Jackson’s posthumous 2014  Xscape LP, made the King of Pop the first artist to have debuted new entries on the Hot 100 in each decade since the ’70s .

Check out  Billboard’s exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the Michael set below.

_Originally reported by [Billboard](https://www.billboard.com/photos/michael-biopic-photos-michael-jackson-behind-the-scenes-1236269861/)._