Well-known film director J.J. Abrams is making a big transition with his latest project. For the most part, Abrams has become known for his work in the sci-fi genre, including working on hit feature films Star Trek and Star Wars. However, he is giving the documentary, story-telling thing a shot with his upcoming collaboration with Warner Brothers TV.
On Monday, Warner Brothers announced that Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions is going to be developing a short series based on Michael Jackson’s last few days. The based-on-true-events project will be pulling from author Tavis Smiley’s upcoming book Before You Judge Me: The Triumph and Tragedy of Michael Jackson’s Last Days.
The book Before You Judge Me is 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.” Thus, this is likely the close-to-reality direction that Abrams will take with the TV series adaptation.
Currently, the series is just in the beginning stages, as Smiley and Abrams (as well as their co-executive producers Ben Stephenson and David Brewington) begin to formulate the production crew and cast for the show. The project has not been picked up by a network yet – although it will likely not be long until it does.
Smiley and Abrams will serve as executive producers. Their production companies, Smiley TV and Bad Robot, announced in April they are also developing a television series about Smiley’s 2014 book, “Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Final Year.”
As more and more details about the series are released, anxious viewers (especially fans of Michael) everywhere are anxiously waiting to hear what star will be stepping into the role of the ‘King of Pop” himself, Michael Jackson.
Caitlyn Jenner’s comment on Father’s Day is raising a few eyebrows. The 66-year-old was seen on her daughter Kylie Jenner’s Snap Chat proclaiming that Kylie was her “favorite daughter,” as “she was the only one that invited [her] over.” While Caitlyn said the comment in a joking manner, it hasn’t stopped people from speculating that the family still hasn’t gotten over the drama that ensued after Caitlyn’s Vanity Fair article was released (back in 2015).
Both Keeping Up with the Kardashians and I Am Cait have documented the internal feuding that went on amongst the usually close-knit family after some family members felt that Caitlyn’s statements in the VF article were unfair and rude towards her ex-wife Kris Jenner. While the family’s various reality shows have made it seem as though the family was able to make amends with one another, Caitlyn and Kylie’s lonely Father’s Day has some questioning this. Considering Caitlyn spent a good portion of her life raising Kris’s kids from her former marriage (Rob, Kim, Khloe and Kourtney), as well as her and Kris’s own two kids (Kylie and Kendall), it is definitely telling that many of them opted to not even send Caitlyn a shout-out on Sunday. In fact, several of the older sisters posted tributes to their late father Robert Kardashian Sr. and did not even mention their long-term former step-dad.
An insider recently told People magazine, “Things aren’t doing great with Caitlyn. The way she threw Kris under the bus so badly [in the Vanity Fair cover story last June] made the girls so mad. Khloe still isn’t in a good place with her and hasn’t really forgiven her. The whole situation made them so close to their mom.”
Well, at least Caitlyn got some love from Kylie (and a shout-out from Kendall on social media as well).
Kylie Jenner, Snap Chat:
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