“I did two short films for Mike when he was alive and after Michael passed, I was asked by the record company to do This Is It and then came Bad 25 and now Off The Wall and hopefully God willing I will get to do Thriller and that’s really the trilogy, the three albums that combine great talents of Quincy Jones and Michael Joesph Jackson,” Lee says.
Spike believes that Off the Wall and MJ’s role in the movie musical The Wiz both took place during an important time of his life.
“The relationship between Michael and Quincy started on the set of The Wiz,” Spike says. “He was coming of age, he was going to Studio 54, he was living on his own, so he was out the house.”
Lee explains that, ironically, it was Michael’s anger over the perception that Off the Wall was snubbed by the Grammys that led to the creation of his masterpiece. Although the album’s single “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” won a Grammy, the album itself was not even nominated.
“It’s evident that without Off the Wall, there would’ve been no Thriller and it was really the disappointment of not winning as many Grammys as he thought he should, that negativity he felt turned into positive energy and really gave him the emphasis for that like, ‘I’m going to show you!'” the director says. “He came back with a vengeance.”
Lee says that Michael never gave less than 100 percent in anything he did.
“Mike busted his a**, you know, he was not there lollygagging, he was doing work,” Lee recalls. “When he came on stage, you know, something clicked and he was going to give it his all, like it was going to be his last performance.”
The documentary features interviews with Michael’s friends, family and famous fans, including The Weeknd, who rarely does interviews. Lee explains why the “Can’t Feel My Face” singer agreed to talk for this documentary.
“I mean, I didn’t know, people telling me now that he never does interviews, but I didn’t know that. People love Michael and so we’re very grateful for the people who were in the film who share their love of Michael with the world,” Lee says.
Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall follows the late pop legend as he breaks away from his famous family group to establish himself as a solo superstar. The film includes archival footage of Michael, plus interviews with Pharrell Williams, Mark Ronson, John Legend, Questlove of the Roots, director Lee Daniels, Kobe Bryant, ballerina Misty Copeland, Michael’s mother and father Katherine and Joe Jackson, his brothers Marlon and Jackie and L.A. Reid, among others.
In addition, the documentary will be included in deluxe CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray versions of Off the Wall that will hit stores on February 26. Off the Wall features the chart-topping singles “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and “Rock with You,” as well as the hit title track and “She’s Out of My Life.” Thanks to the record, MJ, who was 20 when Off the Wall was released, became the first solo artist to have four top-10 singles from the same album. To date, Off the Wall has sold over 30 million copies worldwide.
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