‘Diddler on the Roof’ and Other Working Titles for Graham King’s ‘Michael’
“It’s hard to be pedo in U.S.A.”
From a bush outside Lionsgate Films HQ, I can confirm that ‘Diddler on The Roof,’ among others, was a working title for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael. Producer Graham King defended the working title and listed off a series of others that had been ‘tossed around’ in a live video on Instagram.
“Did we consider naming this film ‘Look, Can We Not Talk About This Right Now, Please?’ Who can say?” A defiant King said. “Is it so much to give a pass to the man who gave us Thriller? Isn’t this what therapists are for? I suppose you’d like to put every shrink in this country out of business by suddenly holding every alleged pedophile accountable for their actions? In better times, Michael Jackson would have been blindly celebrated as the genius who gave us Bad, Billie Jean, and Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough, which incidentally was also a working title.”
Writer John Logan, who penned the screenplay for Michael said during a junket to promote the film that choosing a final name for the biopic was almost as difficult as making the choice to not to address the child sexual abuse allegations against the superstar.
“In America we have a proud tradition of sweeping horrifying allegations about powerful and influential people under the rug. With ‘Swept Under The Rug’ being another working title.” Logan said. “In America if you have money reality can be whatever you want it to be, and when you have as much money as the Jackson Estate, you can reshape the fabric of the universe itself. Yes, the original plan was to not shy away from these troubling allegations, but in the end, we decided protecting the image of a man who has been dead for fifteen years was far more valuable than acknowledging any wrongdoing he may have been accused of doing.”
The official Lionsgate account posted on social media to defend the choice to ignore any allegations made against the deceased superstar.
“‘Michael’ as with any production went through a number of working titles before a final decision was made,” The official wrote. “‘Diddler on The Roof’ was pitched at a time when we were going to show the audience some of the unpleasant details of Mr. Jackson’s life, and we thought a more playful, tongue in cheek title might appeal to audiences. However, after receiving legal threats from the Joseph Stein estate the decision was made to forgo any integrity we may have and just call the damn thing ‘Michael’. Let the piggies have their slop.”
At press time Graham King was arguing with viewers on Instagram live about whether boys were even able to be victims of sexual assault. The bush I hid in for this scoop was a Mulberry Bush.
