Dan Harmon Will Produce ‘Bubbles’ Biopic About Michael Jackson’s Chimp
Fresh on the heels of the surreal romance Anomalisa, Dan Harmon is bringing that stop-motion-animation magic to tackle another kind of relationship: the one between Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee.
As Deadline Hollywood reports, the Community creator recently picked up the screenplay for Bubbles, which tells Jackson’s life story through the eyes of the famous chimp who lived in style at the Neverland Ranch after the singer adopted him from a research facility in 1983.
The script by Isaac Adamson topped the most recent Black List, a survey of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays. According to the Black List’s synopsis of the film,
“A baby chimp is adopted by the pop star Michael Jackson. Narrating his own story, Bubbles the Chimp details his life within The King of Pop’s inner circle through the scandals that later rocked Jackson’s life and eventually led to Bubbles’ release.”
Bubbles is currently a resident of the Center for Great Apes sanctuary in Florida after becoming too aggressive for human family life, but all those years at Jackson’s side (including sitting in on the recording sessions for Bad) gave him quite a tale to tell for an unauthorized biopic.
Harmon will produce the film through his company Starburns Industries. He was the executive producer of Anomalisa, which was nominated for Best Animated Film at the 2016 Academy Awards.
Bubbles isn’t the only eccentric take on the Jackson in the works. An upcoming special from Sky TV called Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon will feature white actor Joseph Fiennes playing the singer in a comedy based on an urban legend about Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando