It’s been a long time coming and no doubt will be surrounded with controversy given the child sex abuse allegations against him throughout his life, but the Michael Jackson movie biopic trailer is finally here.

The Lionsgate movie is simply called Michael and stars the King of Pop’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role.

Rumoured to be split into two films (this remains unclear), the biopic will cover MJ’s life and career from the Jackson 5 to his death in 2009 and address the allegations he always denied.

James Bond scribe John Logan wrote the script while Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King is on producing duties.

The film’s official synopsis reads: “Michael is the cinematic portrayal of the life and legacy of one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. The film tells the story of Michael Jackson’s life beyond the music, tracing his journey from the discovery of his extraordinary talent as the lead of the Jackson Five, to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fuelled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world. Highlighting both his life off-stage and some of the most iconic performances from his early solo career, the film gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before. This is where his story begins. Michael stars Jaafar Jackson in his feature film debut, Nia Long (Empire, The Best Man franchise), Laura Harrier (BlacKkKlansman, Spider-Man: Homecoming) and Juliano Krue Valdi (The Loud House, Arco), with Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick, Whiplash) and two-time Academy Award® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin). Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the award-winning filmmaker of Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer franchise, from a screenplay by three-time Academy Award® nominee John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator), the film is produced by Academy Award® winner Graham King (The Departed, Bohemian Rhapsody), John Branca (executive producer This Is It, Thriller 40) and John McClain (executive producer This Is It, Michael Jackson Live at Wembley July 16, 1988).”

Michael hits cinemas on April 24, 2025.

Music education in schools will be given a massive boost today with the English Baccalaureate system to be scrapped by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s long-awaited Curriculum Review. The “game-changing” axe represents a significant victory for the Daily Express’s Strike A Chord Crusade, which has been demanding that the arts-excluding measure of school performance be ditched. That will now happen with a new system to be introduced that will compel teenagers to take a wider range of GCSEs subjects.

It comes after an 11th-hour appeal from leading creative bodies across the country, who urged the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in an open letter on October 31, to scrap the performance measure introduced by then Education Secretary Michael Gove in 2010. The EBacc has long been criticised by arts figures, who have repeatedly warned that creative subjects have been squeezed out by it, with children being compelled to take maths or science subjects instead.

The Independent Society of Musicians’ last-ditch letter also received the backing of Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, as well as creative unions including Equity and BECTU and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Leeds Conservatoire all backing the demand which has been a key request of the Express’ three-and-a-half year campaign.

The EBacc resulted in a “shocking” 42% decrease in GCSE arts entries between 2010 and 2024 with A-Level entries in music plummeting by over 50%.

Our campaign has been backed by many of the biggest names in British music including UK Music, rock legends Def Leppard, classical virtuoso Alison Balsam, rap star Vic Santoro and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

ISM chief executive Deborah Annetts said: “This is a historic decision and one that those who care deeply about music and creative education have been waiting for 15 long years for.

“It’s the right decision for schools, teachers and students, and brings the aspiration of every child receiving the best possible education, with creativity at its heart, closer.”

Download Festival 2025 may have only been just a few months ago, but we’re already looking ahead to the 2026 offering. Last year’s headliners Sleep Token revelled in one of the biggest and busiest Download Festivals of all time. 2026’s line-up aims to do the same with some major fan favourites on the docket for the weekender, which is due to take place at Donington Park from June 10-14, 2026.

Overnight, the Download 2026 line-up confirmed its three-day event will be headlined by Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park. What’s more, they confirmed more than 90 other acts across the weekend, as well; Architects, Babymetal, Halestorm, Bad Omens, Dogstar and Ice Nine Kills at the forefront of it all. And lots more information has been confirmed.

Alternatively, if fans are looking for specific tickets but can’t find them, resale website StubHub could be the next best chance. This second-hand retailer gives fans the chance to buy and sell tickets up to the day of the event.

Here’s the link:

STUBHUB – Buy Download Festival tickets here.

Download Festival 2026 will begin on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, and will run through to Sunday, June 14, 2026.

The three major days of music – including the three headliners Limp Bizkit, Guns N’ Roses and Linkin Park – will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The festival will once again return to the “spiritual home of rock” at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

At the time of writing, the three headliners for Download 2026 have been revealed.

Limp Bizkit will create a party atmosphere on Friday night, while classic rock aficionados Guns N’ Roses will thrill fans on Saturday. Finally, the iconic and frankly legendary Linkin Park will take on the final night of music on Sunday.

Beyond that, at the time of writing, more than 90 acts have been revealed in total. This includes the likes of Architects, Bad Omens, Babymetal, Behemoth, Static-X, Snot, and much more.

Here’s the full line-up as it stands now – with many more to be announced before the festival opens its doors:

• Limp Bizkit
• Guns N’ Roses
• Linkin Park
• ANKOR
• ARCHITECTS
• AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS
• AS IT IS
• ASH
• BABYMETAL
• BAD OMENS
• BEHEMOTH
• BLACK VEIL BRIDES
• BLOOD INCANTATION
• BLOODYWOOD
• BOUNDARIES
• BUSH
• CATCH YOUR BREATH
• CAVALERA
• CORROSION OF CONFORMITY
• CYPRESS HILL
• DECAPITATED
• DIE SPITZ
• DINOSAUR PILE-UP
• DOGSTAR
• DRAIN
• DROWNING POOL
• EGO KILL TALENT
• ELDER
• ELECTRIC CALLBOY
• FEEDER
• GATECREEPER
• HALESTORM
• HEADWRECK
• HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD
• HOLYWATR
• ICE NINE KILLS
• IMMINENCE
• ivri
• JAMES AND THE COLD GUN
• KUBLAI KHAN TX
• LAKE MALICE
• LAKEVIEW
• LANDMVRKS
• LAST TRAIN
• letlive.
• LOWEN
• MAGNOLIA PARK
• MAMMOTH
• MASTODON
• MELROSE AVENUE
• MOUTH CULTURE
• NASTY
• NATIVE JAMES
• NEVERTEL
• P.O.D
• PALEFEACE SWISS
• PENDULUM
• PERIPHERY
• PUSSYLIQUOR
• RAIN CITY DRIVE
• RETURN TO DUST
• RØRY
• SCENE QUEEN
• SELF DECEPTION
• SET IT OFF
• SILENT PLANET
• SLAY SQUAD
• SLEEP THEORY
• SNOT
• SOCIAL DISTORTION
• SOUTH ARCADE
• SPINESHANK
• SPITTING GLASS
• STATIC-X
• STORY OF THE YEAR
• SWEET PILL
• SWEET SAVAGE
• TAILGUNNER
• THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
• THE PLOT IN YOU
• THE PRETTY RECKLESS
• THE PRETTY WILD
• THORNHILL
• THOSE DAMN CROWS
• thrown
• TOM MORELLO
• TRIVIUM
• TROPIC GOLD
• TX2
• unpeople
• vianova
• WAYSIDE
• WE CAME AS ROMANS
• ZERO 9:36