The only thing stranger than Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Brando renting a car and driving across the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is actor Joseph Fiennes portraying Jackson in a made-for-TV movie about the alleged road trip.
The Brit will star alongside Stockard Channing as Taylor and Brian Cox as Brando in the special for the U.K.'s Sky Arts channel, The Guardian reports. The idea for the program came from a 2011 Vanity Fair piece — as the story goes, Taylor and Brando were invited by Jackson to attend his concert at Madison Square Garden. After the Sept. 11 attacks, when all flights were grounded, the trio decided to rent a car and drive back to California. "They actually got as far as Ohio — all three of them, in a car they drove themselves," a former employee of Jackson told the magazine. One of Taylor's assistants told Vanity Fair the story wasn't true, and that the actress stayed behind in New York, spending time visiting Ground Zero and praying.
Viewers can expect "a fun, lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek road trip of what celebrity of that kind is like," Fiennes said. "But also it's rather beautiful and poignant about their relationships."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The 5 best political thriller series of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends Viewers can binge on most anything, including espionage and the formation of parliamentary coalitions
-
Sudan stands on the brink of another national schismThe Explainer With tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, one of Africa’s most severe outbreaks of sectarian violence is poised to take a dramatic turn for the worse
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
