Breakout Michael star Jaafar Jackson has found his next acting gig. He will star opposite Will Smith in David Gordon Green’s action thriller Supermax, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Smith and I Play Rocky star AnnaSophia Robb were earlier announced to play two FBI agents investigating a murder inside a notorious maximum security prison, in the film from Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax.
Jackson, the son of Michael’s older brother Jermaine, joins Supermax after being celebrated for his star turn as his uncle, the King of Pop, in Antoine Fuqua’s family-sanctioned biopic about Michael Jackson. He even pulled off his uncle’s dance steps, including the Moonwalk, the Robot, the Spin or the Toe Stand, to recreate the entertainment genius on the big screen.
“Jaafar nails the sweet, soft-spoken voice with which Michael projected a childlike innocence and vulnerability, but also the single-minded focus with which he pushed his career forward. We see his natural affinity for children in fan interactions or hospital visits to pediatric cancer wards,” THR film critic David Rooney said in review of Michael, with a Part II to follow.
After Michael past $1 billion for Lionsgate, Jackson is joining in an unspecified role in Supermax, which was written by David Weil and David J. Rosen of Hunter and Invasion TV drama fame. The action thriller is expected to shortly start production, ahead of a planned play on the Prime Video streaming platform.
Producer credits on the action thriller are shared by Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona of The Picture Company Smith and Adam Fishbach for Westbrook. The executive producers are Jonathan Glickman, Alexandra Loewy, Thom Zadra, Spencer Ela, Weil and Rosen, with Natalie Weil associate producing.
Deadline was the first to report on Jaafar Jackson joining Supermax.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the film would be released in theaters.
