After a record-breaking opening weekend, Michael Jackson’s biopic, Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson, will receive a sequel, Michael 2, as revealed by Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson.
Speaking on The Town, Fogelson confirmed that development on the sequel is underway after the film secured the biggest opening ever for a biopic. The original biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), details the King of Pop’s rise from child star to global superstar.
Jaafar Jackson has received rave reviews for his acting debut, playing his uncle. According to Fogelson, the years that follow offer expansive material for continuation.
“There is a massive amount of music and life experiences, separate from allegations, that could fill more than a second movie,” Fogelson said.
Michael 2 In The Works With Director Antoine Fuqua Returning After The Success of Michael, Starring Jaafar Jackson[.]
Jennings pointed out that African American members of Congress have been winning in majority-white districts across the country, which tells us that the justifications for majority-minority districts are no longer valid.
That set off another round of crosstalk, with Neera Tanden jumping in and Ana Navarro noting that the four black Republican members of Congress were all leaving — as if that matters or negates the point.
“Well, they ran for other offices,” Jennings pointed out.
Then Avlon, perhaps sensing the argument slipping away from him, reached for a historical data point. “We haven’t had an African-American Republican governor since Reconstruction,” he said, throwing it out like a trump card.
But Jennings was ready.
“Republicans tried to elect one in Virginia,” he shot back.
Avlon, clearly flustered, was practically speechless.
But then Jennings came in with the kill shot: “Then you got a white Democrat who gerrymandered the state.”
Everyone knew that Jennings had nailed him, and so Sara Sidner, who was guest-hosting the show, cut to a break, declaring, “Everything is crumbling clearly at this table.”
Not a single person crying about how the Supreme Court has made it impossible for black people to get elected supported Winsom Sears over the affluent white lady.
Susan Collins, the incumbent, is the very definition of a moderate Republican. Collins isn’t making Schumer back the Nazi Tattoo Guy; Collins is, in fact, a great excuse not to back the Nazi Tattoo Guy. Not that Chuck Schumer should need an excuse to decline to back Platner. This one’s easy.
Platner certainly hasn’t toned down the Jew-baiting or conspiracist pronouncements about Israel controlling America to siphon taxpayer money away from working families. It’s his whole brand. And one can expect it to continue now that Schumer is approving of that brand.
One need not be Jewish to understand that Nazis are bad. The moral failure here is the Democratic Party’s, not a single constituency.
That’s not to say there are no Democrats who know right from wrong. For example, Platner recently characterized Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as “the bane of my existence”—the latest in a long line of reasons to admire Fetterman, who has made no secret of his disdain for Jew-baiters with Nazi tattoos.
There are the rare progressive activists with a conscience as well. Gun-control advocate Shannon Watts, who has been railing against the left’s support for Platner and its giddy embrace of anti-Semitic influencer Hasan Piker, tweeted today to remind everyone that Piker praised Platner by saying: “He was pro-Hamas. He was giving Hamas credit in 2014. What more do you f**king want?”
Apparently many in the party were convinced by that argument—made by a guy who, by the way, said America deserved 9/11 and is enthralled by political violence more generally.
Listen, everyone makes mistakes, though perhaps something less drastic than permanently inking Nazi imagery on their chest. Platner keeps apologizing for every new comment that pops up, and there will almost certainly be more. What if the man has shown terrible temperament and judgment, little intelligence, and exhibited no perceptible skill that makes them right to serve in the most important deliberative body in the country? No problem.
A few years back, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) dismissed the influence of socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as largely irrelevant, noting that their influence extended to “like, five people.” Well, since that time, Democrats have abetted the rise of the unhinged Left at every turn, from communists to cultural wackos, and those preaching revolutionary violence. The Democratic Party has become such a big tent these days that unapologetic terror-shilling communist Hasan Piker, who tells his millions of followers to “soak the streets in capitalist blood,” has been invited into the movement by popular personalities on the mainstream Left such as Ezra Klein and Jon Favreau. Unsurprising coming from fans of Zohran Mamdani, a devotee of “globalizing the intifada” or, rather, the global violent targeting of Jews. These positions, it seems, only lift your stock on the contemporary Left. Ocasio-Cortez is quickly becoming a centrist in her party.
At this point, what could a progressive say to be shunned by Democrats? What sin could precipitate the party abandoning a candidate? It’s difficult to think of anything. And please, don’t bring up former California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell, who is now dealing with multiple accusations of sexual assault and rape. Democrats lose nothing by abandoning a primary candidate in a deep-blue state.
Come to think of it, the only offense that could conceivably turn the progressive Left against you is openly supporting Israel, as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has found out. Otherwise, you’re good.
No word yet if Platner will be self-funding his campaign:
While Janet Mills ran out of money, Graham Platner has several priceless works of art and gold bars stored away. https://t.co/kGcTOsw9xh
HEGSETH: “The mantra you would hear dripping from the lips of generals, with a serious look on their face was, ‘our diversity is our strength.’ Which is the SINGLE DUMBEST phrase in military HISTORY. Of course, our diversity is NOT our strength. Our UNITY is our strength.”
The thing to understand is that the Obama/Biden regimes were successful in training many senior generals and admirals that DEI is a core competency of the US military, and in many cases THE core competency of the military, over and above readiness and warfighting.
Meanwhile, the left’s Hegseth Derangement Syndrome continues unabated:
Just save this clip for when the next Democrat supporter tries to kill Trump and his cabinet members for being Nazis. And when Democrats claim that they never compare Trump and his cabinet to Nazis. They know exactly what they are doing.
The New York Times is determined to ignore the Wuhan Institute of Virology forever, though:
The NYT: there has not been one single catastrophe involving a previously unknown virus developed in a foreign lab and, quite frankly, the entire concept seems absurd https://t.co/v2Gv5hRyWb
While the animals are initially excited to share the ownership and operation of the farm, dividing the bounty equally becomes a problem. Napoleon turns into a parody of Donald Trump who mocks and razzes his political rival, another pig named Snowball, who is voiced by Laverne Cox. Whatever wise good governance Snowball suggests—saving half the harvest for winter, installing a water mill to generate electricity—Napoleon (or, as he calls himself, “Na-po-po”) leads the crowd in mockery. “It just sounds pretty boring,” he says, and pushes a jeering mob of brainless sheep to repeat whatever he says. Before being forced into exile, a frustrated Snowball cries out, “You animals are all too stupid to understand.” Mr. Stoller and Mr. Serkis (the veteran actor who played Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, Caesar in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise and Alfred in “The Batman”) consider this remark a sharp rejoinder to populism. Do you feel duly reprimanded, fools?
Much of this roams pretty far from Orwell’s vision, but that’s not the reason the film fails. It fails because it’s obvious, witless and dull. The animation is charmless and bland. The altered storyline, which is told from the point of view of a new character, a porcine young Everyman named Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo), and narrated by Orwell’s stand-in for the suffering proletariat, the ever-toiling workhorse Boxer (Woody Harrelson), builds to a conspiracy between the increasingly dictatorial Napoleon and a clumsily reworked version of Orwell’s Mr. Pilkington, a tech mogul (Glenn Close) who has nefarious designs on Animal Farm. Her company is both a snazzy creator of cool products and a mega-retailer—a sort of Applezon. The animals, who become more and more like humans as the story goes on, get dazzled by and addicted to her wares. People say things like, “I like the optics.” A pig has a back tattoo reading “Go pig or go home.” The strenuous attempts at hipness here are as antithetical to Orwell as any other element.
Andy Serkis has been trying to animate George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” for 15 years. In 2026, he says, it “couldn’t, actually, be more relevant.”
Serkis and his producing partner, Jonathan Cavendish, started tinkering around with an adaptation after he filmed 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” The rebellion in that movie reminded him of “Animal Farm,” which he read for the first time on the bus to school when he was 10 or 11. Fifty-some years later, it sticks with him. He wore a red hat to the premiere that read, “Make Animal Farm Fiction Again.”
* * * * * * * * *
Serkis approached the adaptation by asking himself what Orwell would write about if he wrote “Animal Farm” today. He didn’t want it to be a story about Stalinist Russia. Instead, he gravitated toward themes of capitalism, wealth and overconsumption. The billionaire antagonist, Pilkington (Glenn Close), drives what closely resembles a Cybertruck.
This isn’t the first attempt at a mirror universe Animal Farm; Roger Waters did the same thing nearly 50 years ago on Pink Floyd’s Animals: “Whereas the novella focuses on Stalinism, the album is a critique of capitalism and differs again in that the sheep eventually rise up to overpower the dogs.”
For the love of god why would you make this a light hearted comedy.
Then they went and reversed the message to make it anti-capitalism rather than anti-communism.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries just called the Supreme Court "illegitimate." That follows Democratic politicians and pundits calling for the packing of the Supreme Court. Nothing says Happy 250th Anniversary like tearing down the core institutions of the Republic.
And here I thought it was because you had lost your mind. Like half the electorate. Unable to accept the results of an election. And in your case, turned your back on everything you ever believed in. https://t.co/0MOV0mStax
WELL, DUH: Another Inconvenient Truth: Men With Guns Stopped the WHCD Assassination Attempt. “This outcome aligns with a large body of research showing that the presence of armed defenders significantly reduces both the duration and severity of violent incidents. When resistance is immediate, attackers are far more likely to be stopped before causing widespread harm.”
Governor Janet Mills on Thursday announced that she was dropping out of the Maine Senate race, with polls showing her way behind Graham Platner, who is now presumed to be the Democrat who will go up against Senator Susan Collins in one of the most hotly contested races of the year.
Platner was largely unknown at this point last year and yet managed to drive a sitting governor out of the primary before a single vote was cast. But he had one thing going for him, which is that he gained attention for his antisemitism. That is a ticket to success in the modern Democratic Party.
Al Sharpton smiles.
UPDATE: Question asked:
Can I assume that @BulwarkOnline and its cadre of Principled Former Republicans will be endorsing and supporting the moderate old school Susan Collins over the radical left-wing guy with a Nazi tattoo and history of racism and misogyny?
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