Three months before his death, Michael Jackson committed to co-direct an independent film called They Cage the Animals at Night, according to filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller. Jackson was also allegedly financing the film, investing $8m into the production.
The film would be based on Jennings Michael Burch's 1985 book of the same name, which describes his real-life experiences growing up in foster homes. Jackson loved these memoirs and, in a meeting at Neverland ranch in 2002, suggested to Stoller that they work together on the project.
"Michael told me often he felt like he grew up as an orphan, like a foster kid, because he never was in one home," Stoller told the Hollywood Reporter. "To him every hotel was like a different foster home. He said he used to sit in the window and see kids playing outside and cry because he couldn't be part of that."
Jackson and Stoller had been friends for years, and though the singer appeared in big-budget blockbusters like Captain EO and The Wiz, his last film appearance was Stoller's 2005 direct-to-DVD feature, Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls. Jackson appears as Agent MJ, who rescues characters on a beam of light.
Stoller said that he and Jackson signed a deal with Mel Gibson's Icon Productions in 2003, agreeing to develop a $12m-$20m version of They Cage the Animals at Night. When Jackson was indicted on child molestation charges later that year, Icon canned the project and Gibson, Stoller said, stopped returning his phonecalls.
Jackson and Stoller lost touch during the singer's trial, but they later reconnected, watching dozens of films at the Neverland cinema including Jackson's favourite, To Kill a Mockingbird. Stoller said they discussed filming a remake of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. "[Michael] wanted to do movies the Academy would like," Stoller said.
This spring, Jackson and Stoller met for a "pretty serious meeting" about They Cage the Animals at Night. According to Stoller, "Michael was going to put up $8m and not have to deal with any studios or producers and then take it to the studios afterward. He was very passionate about being a director."
Jackson's official representatives say otherwise, denying that there were any formal deals for the movie. Icon Productions have also contested Stoller's story, saying they were only briefly involved with the project, from 1995-1997. However, Stoller claims to have kept a screenplay contract with Icon from 2002, and hours of video footage featuring Jackson, meant for the proposed DVD release. Stoller said the footage, which includes a discussion of suicide between Jackson and author Burch, has attracted the interest of several television networks.
"[Michael] was very excited about making movies and wanted his hands on everything, from working on screenplays to producing, to writing the music," Stoller said. "He was determined to make this movie."
