A sequel to Michael Jackson movie Michael is likely to start filming "this year or next".

Michael is directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Jaafar Jackson as his late uncle charts the life of King of Pop Michael Jackson from his early years in the Jackson 5 through to the success of albums including Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad, but the movie ends when the singer is at the height of his fame in the 1980s and now Adam Fogelson, the head of the Lionsgate movie studio, has confirmed a sequel is in the works and it's "very" likely to go into production soon.

During an appearance on The Town with Matt Belloni podcast, the host asked: " [The sequel is] happening, whether it's this year or next year?" and Fogelson replied: "I think the likelihood is very high."

The studio boss also confirmed director Antoine Fuqua is going to be involved in meetings over the coming weeks to decide on their vision for the second film and to narrow down a timescale.

He explained: "Continuing to get a deeper understanding of who Michael was, I think there are any number of ways the filmmakers will be able to pull that off.

"And over the next couple weeks, when we all sit down and talk about their full and complete vision for what this movie will be, I'll be in a better position to answer the question [about how they are going to make the second film]."

The first film was plagued by legal issues after producers realised they were unable to legally depict scenes relating to child sex abuse allegations first levelled at the late Thriller singer back in the 1990s.

It led to millions of dollars being spent on reshoots as filmmakers crafted a new ending with the movie finishing with Michael Jackson at the height of his fame instead of in his later years.

Fogelson admitted approaching the second film will be complicated but there's plenty of moments from Michael Jackson's life that could be covered.

He said: "People could have stayed in this theater forever. And there are giant albums left and we just one song out of, you know, Bad as the end of the first movie, the [1993] Super Bowl [halftime show which featured in the original script] which has been talked about, the first Super Bowl halftime show that literally changed the Super Bowl and the NFL.

"And I'm not guaranteeing any of these moments are or not in [the sequel] I'm just saying there's a huge portion of his life separate and apart from allegations."